


Family Is What You Make It (Previously Children in the Tower)

by ABookishSortOfLover (qwerty28274)



Series: Children in the Tower [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Allusions to AOS, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Basically Tony adopts EVERYONE, Buckle your seatbelts, But way more fluff than angst, Content Warnings in pre-chapter Author's Notes, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, FrostIron - Freeform, I can officially add that tag now, I haven't figured out when though, I haven't seen all of AOS tho so super not canon compliant w/ that, I just need an excuse for superpowered kids, I think Sage is going to get a girlfriend, I want Bruce to have a huge muscled cuddle buddy, I'm expecting hate from my readers, I'm fully prepared for the repercussions of what's to come, It's gonna be a bumpy ride, It's just very concentrated angst, Loki kinda hates it too but in an i love this idiot way, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Natasha Is a Good Bro, No Vision bc I love JARVIS, Not Canon Compliant, PROTIP I PROBABLY WONT BE WRITING ANY SEXYTIMES, Pepper kinda hates it, Pining, SO, Science Bros, So Trigger Warning for Panic Attacks, Steve Is a Good Bro, Stops being canon compliant partway through Age of Ultron, Stucky - Freeform, The tag before this one is subject to change, This previously had Thor and Jane together, Thor is a giant puppy, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony attracts strays, We're nearing the end folks, and I'm eagerly awaiting it, but i changed my mind, but it's going to happen, but it's most likely recognizable, but like, but so far only in a chapter or two, i don't fuck with infinity war, it's not directly labelled as such, just not onscreen, no spoilers bc i hate iw, probably, so much pining like someone save these characters from themselves, there's that, they probably do the dirty too, vague descriptions of panic attacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-01-30 05:35:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 75
Words: 88,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12647133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwerty28274/pseuds/ABookishSortOfLover
Summary: Tony Stark has always attracted strays like moths to an open flame. That was all well and good when those strays were adults that could move in by themselves, but something in him wants to start a family. Where better to start than with a superpowered kid?





	1. Strays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iwritesinsandtragedies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwritesinsandtragedies/gifts).



> Do I have a million and a half other stories and series that I should be working on right now? Do I have school in the morning? Do I need sleep? Am I putting all of these things off because I got an idea in the shower and had to write it down and start another story that I'll probably abandon? Yes. Yes, I am. :D
> 
> Some of you might be thinking, damn, she's gifting a bunch of these to the same person, I wonder why. I'll tell ya. It's cos she's my best goddamn friend and I love her. Also because I want her to see my shit. Also because I like bugging her. Also because our communication is spotty, so I'm doing my best.

Tony Stark has a huge heart. Anyone close to him will tell you that, even if he doesn’t exactly want them to. Of course, this leads to him “attracting strays” as Steve Rogers so eloquently puts it. Although, to be fair, Steve is one of his original strays. Tony has been providing a place for people to stay ever since he began making real friends. That is, when he wasn’t avoiding his father. Now that he’s got the tower? He practically begs people to stay there. Truth be told, construction started on new floors the second he opened Coulson's files.

If Loki didn’t love Tony so much, he would hate this particular habit. If he hadn’t benefited from said habit, even more so. Of course Tony agreed to let Loki stay at the tower after Asgard pardoned him. Everyone was wary of the god at first, particularly Clint, which was understandable. Except, they’d all welcomed Clint back, and Loki was mind controlled too. Why not give him a place to crash until he became weary of the Avengers?

Except, Loki hadn’t left, and that had led to one of the most surprising turn of events that Tony couldn’t have expected. Loki had stayed, and he’d become rather infatuated with a particular member of the team. Now Tony couldn’t imagine where he’d be if Loki _had_ decided to leave after he’d taken him in all those years ago.

But Loki and the Avengers weren’t the last to benefit from Tony’s inability to turn anyone away. First, there was the twins. Sure, Wanda and Pietro had fought against them at first. But if they could learn to accept Loki living with them, why not two superpowered kids? And Pietro was so hurt at first, to turn them away would be nothing short of cruel. Then, there was Peter. Granted, Peter didn’t actually live at the tower, although he and his aunt had almost gotten an invitation. Luckily, together Peter and Loki convinced Tony that he and May were fine in their apartment. Peter not wanting his aunt to know that he was Spider-Man may have played a role. Tony wasn’t happy about it, but he was willing to let it go. Then, they brought in Bucky. That was a long, hard, struggling trip, but they made it. He was safe to be around. They worked out all his trigger words, and Steve was overjoyed.

The thing is, it didn’t stop there. No one was quite sure where all these superpowered people were coming from. They just kept appearing, and no one knew why. Tony was pretty sure Agent knew. Anyway, the point was, enhanced people were coming out of the woodworks. Most of them weren’t criminals plotting ways to start robbing the Met. Hell, some of them were kids. Of course, there was a stigma though. And of course Tony found out the minute a special foster system was created for powered kids. Of course he immediately turned to Loki with his best puppy dog eyes and started to beg.

“Anthony, for the twentieth time, _no_. We do not need a child. Neither of us would even know how to care for it.”

“Aw, that’s bullshit. I can take care of a kid. You can take care of me, so obviously you can take care of a kid. How hard could it be?”

“Taking care of a child who has been run through the foster system is difficult enough. But a child who is now in a new foster system due to powers it may not even control? Is this really a question?” Loki cocked an unimpressed brow at his lover and continued making himself an omelet. “You don’t even know that the courts would see you a fit parent. And that doesn’t even address the unlikelihood that they would grant you and I, two men, custody of a child. Things on this planet have come far recently, but not that far, my love.”

Tony pouted at him, resisting the urge to whine. “I’d be a great parent, what are you talking about? I’m great with Peter!”

“Indeed. A fully grown teenager who is nearly a legal adult and lives with his aunt. I’m not saying that you would not make a wonderful father, Anthony. I am just stating facts. Due to your… unfortunate habits in your younger years, it is likely that any judge looking at your record would not deem you a fit parent. Of course, due to your celebrity status and your overwhelming amount of wealth-”

“I am not that rich, come on!”

“You may be able to convince them in your favour, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

“What are we talking about?” Clint dropped down from the vent above the island and sat, cross-legged, in front of Tony, giving him a shit eating grin.

“Nothing, Hawkass.”

“Anthony wants to foster a child.”

“Hey!”

Loki shrugged. “I don’t see why you would specifically keep this from Barton. Aside from you, he’s one of the most childish people here.”

“Rude.”

“No one asked you, Clint.”

The archer stuck his tongue out at Tony. “Why’d you want a kid anyway?”

He pouted again, shoving Clint toward the edge of the island. “I don’t expect any of you to get it, okay? Let’s all just forget I said anything. Whatever. It’s not important.” He turned toward the elevator, a little bit hurt, but ignoring it for now.

Loki looked up from his omelet, suddenly worried. He’d thought they were past this stage. “Anthony-”

“I’m fine, Lokes. Just gonna do some inventing.” Tony turned around and flashed Loki a quick smile, turning back around as he entered the elevator, trying to ignore the clenching feeling in his stomach. “The workshop, J. Lock things up a bit once I’m down there, okay?”

“Of course, sir. Shall I call Ms. Potts and inform her of your desire to possibly foster a child with powers?”

Tony winced, thinking back to how adamant Loki had been that they not get a kid. “Nah. It’s not that important. Besides, if Loki says it’s a bad idea, it’s probably a really bad idea, huh?”

“As you wish, sir.”

If Tony didn’t know any better, he’d say his AI sounded troubled. Oh well. He shrugged, walking into his workshop, his face lighting up delightedly when chirps from his bots greeted him.


	2. An Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Loki have a discussion, and some things come to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay, I know the title of this is literally "Children in the Tower" and the children *are* coming, I promise! They're just not here yet. I need to do some foster system research. I hate research. Eugh. Oh well, I brought this on myself. Anyway, here's chapter two! Enjoy!

“I think…” Loki said hesitantly, partly to Clint and mostly to himself, “I think he was upset.”

Clint scoffed. “What was your first clue, man?”

“Who’s upset?” Steve asked, walking in, a bagel somehow already in hand.

“Tony.”

“Oh. Wait, why?” The blond looked at Loki in confusion.

“I… would assume because he… wants a child? I must confess, I am not sure, and that troubles me. I thought that Anthony and I were past him being shut off about what bothers him.”

“Where’d he go?”

“He said he was going to the workshop, I believe.”

“Sir is currently in his workshop, playing with the bots, Mr Laufeyson.”

“Thank you, JARVIS.”

“Anytime, sir.”

“You should talk to him.” Steve offered, taking a bite of the bagel. “If something’s bothering him, he usually tells you at least. You two have been doing so well with communication. If it’s something that he’s deliberately hiding, you need to work on it so that you don’t lose all that progress you’ve made.”

“Wow, look at you, Cap, going all Dr Phil on him. Good for you.”

Steve made a face. “No. Just… no. I’m gonna go find Bucky. Does anyone-”

“Sergeant Barnes is training in the gym, Captain Rogers.”

“Thanks, JARVIS.”

“Of course.”

“Seriously though,” Clint turned to Loki, a serious expression on his face for once, “You should talk to him. All of us are really proud of the two of you, particularly in how far you’ve come with getting him to open up. We’d hate to see him go back to hiding everything from us again.”

“I… will go talk to him. Once I’m finished eating. If he’s retreated to his bots, then I’m going to guess he wants to process… something. If he comes to me with it, wonderful. If not, I’ll give him ten minutes before I seek him out. Thank you, for the advice.” Loki nodded to Clint, grateful that the… companionship between them, for lack of a better word, had not been permanently damaged by what he’d done while being influenced by Thanos. He resolved to wait a few more minutes before intruding on Tony’s workshop.

\---

“Anthony?”

“Hmm?” The engineer looked up from playing with Dum-E and offered Loki a smile. “What’s up, Frostbite?”

Loki rolled his eyes and sat down next to Tony. “We need to have a conversation.”

“Oh?” He turned toward the god, a curious expression on his face.

“I am going to ask you a question, and I would like your answer, rather than a defense.”

Tony pouted at him, and he smiled softly.

“Anthony, why do you wish for a child?”

Tony winced. “I… I just… I had everything I ever wanted as a kid… except for Dad’s approval.” He smirked sardonically, tears springing to his eyes when Loki gently took his hand. “Y’know, I used to… throw my money at things - people - to get them to stay. I couldn’t see another reason people would want to stick around. I’m getting better about it, ask Pepper if you don’t believe me. “ He chuckled, then sobered again. “I just- I don’t want another kid growing up thinking that they aren’t worth loving or that they don’t deserve it. And, if I can keep some little squirt from becoming a supervillain while I’m at it… Why not, right? It’s not a huge deal, Lokes. I get it if you don’t want a kid. Hell, I get it if you don’t trust me with a kid. It’s just… a thought.”

“Oh, Anthony,” Loki breathed, bringing a hand up to cup Tony’s cheek, his eyes watering. “Why did you not say anything earlier?”

Tony shrugged, turning his head and pressing a kiss to Loki’s palm. “I didn’t want to actually make a big deal about it. I was just pestering you for the fun of it for the most part, but… I don’t know. It just kinda really hit home earlier. Sorry. I probably should’ve mentioned something.”

“Do not apologize.” Loki pulled the smaller man into a hug. “Let’s talk to Pepper. We’ll see what she thinks, and allow her to talk to her connections, yes?”

Tony nodded, eyes flooding again, but this time with happiness. “Really?”

“Of course, darling.” Loki smiled at him begrudgingly. “I could never deny you anything.”

Tony grinned cheekily, despite the few tears that had escaped and were now running down his cheeks. “Oh yeah?”

Loki rolled his eyes once again, pulling his lover into a kiss. “You are incorrigible.”

“But you love me.”

“Indeed, I do.”

\---

Pepper wished she could say that she hadn’t seen Tony’s phone call about potentially adopting superpowered children coming from a mile away, but she tries to make a habit of not lying. She wished she hadn’t foreseen this phone call coming, but if it meant that she could get results to her favourite engineer that much sooner, well… Being right was okay, sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	3. Long Road to Completion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The process to foster a child begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I've done some research on the foster system, but nothing anywhere as extensive as it could have been. If anyone reading this has real life experience with the foster system and would like to correct any errors of mine, feel free to leave a comment yelling at me for not doing my research properly.

As per Loki’s expectation, the process of going about fostering a child was more difficult than one would think. Pepper had done her research, and they knew the agency they wanted to go through. They were looking at fostering with the intent to adopt, which Tony was very excited by. Now they had to complete a homestudy. This entailed a series of meetings between Tony, Loki, and a social worker.

Luckily, not terribly long after Loki had moved into the tower, Pepper had the brilliant idea to give him a Midgardian identity. The others had quickly agreed, because no civilian would trust the crazy alien guy who had tried to take over New York. Besides, by giving him an earth identity, any thoughts of Loki being the same man as the one who _had_ tried to take over New York would be pushed aside incredulously. 

Tony and Loki had gotten married a few years ago using said identity which had been provided by SHIELD. Of course, if you’d asked them then, they would have said it was completely for tax purposes. Neither of them would deny that while yes, originally they had partially gotten married for tax purposes, that was certainly not the case now.

Pepper came along on a few of the meetings, just to help provide legal documents and ensure that all the proper NDAs were in place. They decided to hold the home inspection at the penthouse, and Tony was a wreck.

All household members were required to attend, so the entire Avengers team was there, barring Peter and Aunt May. Nat and Clint were playing ping pong in the corner, with Pietro speeding back and forth so that the could play doubles with three people, and Phil was silently watching them from a nearby corner. Steve was listening to Thor extol his childhood adventures, many of which Tony probably would have been fascinated with, had he been listening. Bruce was curled up against Thor’s side, quietly reading his book with a mug of tea close at hand. Bucky was flipping through television channels with Wanda, looking a bit bored and checked out, but Tony knew better. Tony himself was… alright, he was pacing. So sue him, he was nervous. This was one of the things that would actually determine whether or not he and Loki could foster a kid. This was fucking important.

Tony jumped a little when Loki wrapped his arms around his waist from behind, pulling the shorter man back against his chest and burying his nose in the inventor’s hair. “You need to calm down, love.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Snookums. I’m perfectly calm. I’m great. Wonderful, even. I’m totally not worried. At all. Nope. Not me. I’m never worried, why would I be worried, everything is going to be-”

“Anthony.”

“Yes, Dumpling?”

“You only call me this many ludicrous names when you get nervous.”

“What? Psssh. I’m not-”

“You are.” The team chorused, none of them looking away from what they were doing.

“I wasn’t-!” Tony tried to protest, turning to them, but he didn’t get much farther.

“You were.”

“Totally were.” Clint piped up from the corner, returning a wicked serve from Natasha and grinning triumphantly when she failed to send it back.

“I do _not-_ ”

“Yes you do!”

Tony gaped at Bruce in betrayal. “I thought we were _friends_ , Brucie Bear!” He exclaimed, pressing his hands over his heart. “I’m hurt. My one and only friend has abandoned me. I’ve been left alone in the harsh, cold world, doomed to trod my forsaken path alone!” He mock swooned backward into Loki’s arms, unable to contain his grin when the god supported him easily and without question.

“Sir, Miss Brackett is here. Shall I send her up?”

Tony cleared his throat and stood on his own two feet, smoothing down his shirt subconsciously. “Sure thing, J. We’re ready. Right, guys?” He turned, and the whole team was on their feet, coming around him and Loki, and for a moment, he felt nearly overwhelmed with gratitude for this family he’d put together. They had his back, and they weren’t going to let him down any time soon. He took a deep breath and turned to face the elevator as the doors slid open.

Jean Brackett was a pretty natural blonde with lavender streaked through her hair. She, too had gained powers recently, though hers were significantly less destructive than some others Tony had heard about. She’d become an empath, a gift that went beautifully along with her profession. She and a group of her powered friends had been the ones to set up the first foster system branch for the special children. In the entire time Tony had spent with the girl, she had never stopped smiling or being supportive. She and her girlfriend, Amity had been one of the first couples to adopt from the agency, so they knew how nerve wracking it could be. The girl definitely had a Paris Jackson sort of vibe about her, and Tony wasn’t complaining a bit.

“Hey.” The genius turned on his billion megawatt smile, and stepped forward to pull Jean into a hug. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

Clint snickered, covering it up with a cough when Phil elbowed him in the side.

Jean grinned brightly at Tony. “Thanks for having me. I know we’ve kinda gotta, but I still can’t get over how, like, super chill you guys are.”

Tony beamed at her warmly. “Well, this is the team. You’ve probably seen them on tv and stuff, but here’s the real deal.” He motioned to each one as he introduced them. “Thor, Bruce, Cap, Barnes, Agent, Clint, Nat, Pietro, and his sister, Wanda.”

“Ah… Pietro and Wanda. You two were from Sokovia.”

The girl nodded. “We were.”

“And were you adopted by Mister Stark, or...?”

“We are old enough to live here on our own.” Pietro spoke up, fidgeting slightly, but doing well at staying still. Tony was proud. “Tony just helped us gain access to the country. Completely legally, of course!” His eyes grew wide as he realised that what he said may have seemed a bit shady, but Coulson put a comforting arm around Pietro’s shoulders, and Wanda placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Stark worked with SHIELD to bring the Maximoffs into the country. He brought the idea to us, and we went through all the proper channels to bring them here. We’re working on getting them citizenship as we speak.”

Tony shot Phil a relieved smile, and clutched Loki’s hand tightly. This was going well, but things could flip in an instant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	4. Just Keep Swimming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit more process, but we've almost got kid(s)!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about that last cliffhanger, but I'm trying to keep all of my chapters close to the same length space-wise. In this chapter we get to see a bit more of Jean and there's some Science Bros bonding time...
> 
> Shoutout to cara_tanaka for being my most frequent commenter so far!
> 
> AlSo I just saw the trailer for the new Fifty Shades movie and I gagged. Like, legit gagged. Why do they have to ruin Valentine's Day for those of us who *want* to enjoy the damn holiday???

“So… All of you live here?” Jean looked a little confused, and admittedly, she had reason to be.

“We live on different floors, but yes, we all live in the tower.”

Ah, Cap to the rescue. Tony gave him a quick grin. “I built a floor for each of the Avengers shortly after the Battle of New York,” Tony explained. “Then Loki moved into the Penthouse with me, and when Bucky came along, he moved into Steve’s floor.”

“Just to get this straight, Captain Rogers, you and Sergeant Barnes are together?”

Bucky nodded the affirmative and took Steve’s hand in his. “Have been since the forties, sweetheart.”

“Great. That’s… awesome.” Jean looked genuinely overjoyed at the admission, and Tony got a feeling that the Captain America/James Barnes fanfiction was going to become a lot more voluminous. “But, um,” she cleared her throat and looked sheepish at the slip in professionalism, “Doctor Banner, you and… Thor are also romantically involved?”

“Indeed, friend Jean!” Thor boomed, and Tony couldn’t help but laugh. Apparently answering in lieu of significant others was a thing, now.

“Okay, cool, and uh… you… three?” She seemed a little hesitant to ask, almost as if she was afraid she’d jumped to a wrong conclusion, but Natasha nodded and settled her uncertainty.

“We’re together, yeah.” Clint jumped in, smirking because he just _knew_ Phil and Nat were giving him unimpressed looks. “Have been for years. Second longest running relationship, only because those guys,” he motioned to Steve and Bucky with his thumb, “Are old as dirt. Ow!” He turned around and glared at Bucky, flicking the rubber band back when the former assassin gave him a shit-eating smirk.

“Right. Sorry, I just gotta…” Jean rustled around in her bag, and pulled out a legal pad and a pen. “I’m not trying to pry, I just have to take down and relationships in the residence aside from the couple fostering.”

“We get it.” Bruce offered her a gentle smile. “We’re all supporting Tony and Loki every step of the way.”

“So glad to hear it.” She gave him a grin of her own. “Okay, so, can I see the areas where the child will be living? I just gotta make sure that everything’s, y’know, safe and stuff.”

“Of course.” Loki stepped in with a ridiculous amount of grace and poise. “I’ll give you the tour.” He lead Jean away, chatting with her amicably, leaving Tony with a small smile, his gaze trailing after them.

“Hey.”

Tony turned to see Bruce, the good doctor’s eyes twinkling in amusement.

“I know you were wigged out earlier, but everything’s going to go great, alright? Jean loves you, I can tell, and you and Loki are going to make great parents. Any kid would be lucky to have you two.”

Tony’s face relaxed into a broad grin. “You think?”

“Definitely. You may have to cut down on those shop binges, though.”

The inventor winced. “Yeah, no kidding. We’re going to have to work out something for when we get called out because of Doom or whatever else is threatening the city on any given week. We’ve still got a long way to go, Bruce.”

“But you’ll get there.” Bruce patted Tony on the arm, and smiled when he felt Thor come up behind him.

“Friend Stark, have you any idea what age of child you and my brother are looking to adopt?”

Tony winced. “Well, we’re not quite looking to adopt yet, Thor. Right now it’s more ‘fostering with the intent to adopt.’ We are kind of hoping to foster a teen, though. As much as I love little kids, I think we’re all just a little… much for an actual kid. I’m not sure any of us are ready for a couple of tiny people running around here just yet.”

“That’s a good point.” Bruce looked proud of him for considering that. “Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?”

“It doesn’t matter at all. I mean, a girl would be cool, just to get a couple more females in the building. It’s always nice to pass the Bechdel test, you know. But… I don’t care, and Loki hasn’t told me that he has strong inclinations either way. I’ll just be happy having a kid here, and I think that Loki kind of feels the same.”

“I am proud of you for taking this step, Friend Stark. This is a new milestone in your relationship with my brother, is it not?”

Tony chuckled. “I guess. That’s not why we’re doing it, though. We- well, I just… I can’t handle the thought of a kid growing up somewhere where they feel unloved or unworthy of love. I’m not looking to change the world this time, just a kid or two.”

Bucky caught Tony’s eye from across the room and gave him a thumbs up. Tony’s heart swelled with joy. The fact that the supersoldier was comfortable enough with himself now to even think about continuing to stay in the tower while Tony and Loki were looking to foster a kid was _such_ an improvement. A year ago, Bucky could hardly even stand eating on the communal floor, but now he was challenging Phil to a game of ping pong. Tony looked around at the little family he’d collected for himself over the years. Everyone here loved each other. They really _were_ a family, even if that made Clint the weird ass uncle that no one was quite sure how he was related. Tony snickered at that thought. And they were adding someone new to the family. Someone who, hopefully, would come to consider these people their family as much as Tony had. Someone who would love them as much as Tony does. He smiled at Loki as he and Jean came back from the tour. This would be good, great even. They were doing this.

He wasn’t nervous anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	5. A While Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiddo! Okay... Teenager! But still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've finally got a kid! Tell me what you guys think of her so far in the comments. This chapter is shorter than all the others, and I'm sure someone would have picked up on that without my mentioning it. I did that on purpose, I wanted to give you a quick taste of her and her personality before fleshing out her meeting the team. So, sorry about the chapter length, but I promise tomorrow's chapter will make up for it.
> 
> Also, yes, I know this is a day early (I think... it's still the eighth for me, but AO3 is saying the ninth, so... maybe this is early, maybe it isn't) but I can't queue it for later because AO3 reads as a day ahead of me. I've done my research (ish y'all know how much i don't like research) and I can't find out where the website is based out of to figure out when their day changes, so....  
> I'm working on queuing up chapters because I'm going on a retreat Saturday, so I won't be able to physically post. Anyway, in the meantime, I guess you get a bonus chapter today!

Finally, _finally_ , they had found a child. Her name was Sage. According to Jean, she’d been in the foster system for quite a while, even before the outbreak of powered people. She went to a fairly nearby school, but there was a closer one that Jean was recommending they move her to. Tony just wanted to move her in.

Tony and Loki had met with Sage several times over the past two months or so, and she was a very introverted young girl. She tended to dress mostly in sweaters and didn’t seem to be particularly interested in making friends. She did seem to like them, though, which was an improvement from the last family she’d been placed with, which hadn’t been a great fit. They were bringing her to the tower today to move some of her things in and just sort of… get acclimated before she moved in full time. Tony was ecstatic.

“Okay, so here’s your room. You’ve got an en suite bathroom, walk-in closet, I think there’s a mini fridge in here somewhere…” Tony spun around, trying to locate the piece of equipment that he could have sworn he put in here. “Aha!” he pointed to the side of the bed not occupied by a nightstand. “Mini fridge. If you don’t like the layout the way it is now, we can _totally_ fix that. Just lemme know, and we’ll make any changes you want. Or… not! If you’re fine with the way it is. Whatever you want. It’s your room.” He let out a vaguely nervous chuckle.

Loki chuckled, placing a gentle hand on the small of Tony’s back. “Love, let _her_ explore, hmm?” He turned to Sage, expression soft. “I would say he’s not usually this excitable, but that would be a lie.”

She giggled softly, green eyes sparkling. “I don’t mind.”

“Okay, you said you liked Mountain Dew, right? I put Mountain Dew in the mini fridge. I hope that’s okay. Shit. I probably should have asked. Anyway, you can do whatever with your stuff. It’s your room. I said that already. Um.” Tony spun back to her with a sheepish grin. “Sorry. You probably wanna. Um. Okay. We will be on the common floor with everyone else. You can join when you’re ready, or you can just stay up here, or you could… yeah. Great. Okay. You have my number right? Just in case you, like, fall and can’t get up?”

Sage snickered. “I don’t need Life Alert, Mister Stark.”

“I thought we agreed on Tony.”

She shrugged, soft smirk playing on her lips.

Tony groaned good naturedly. “I like you, kid. You _do_ have my phone number though, right?”

“Yep.” She popped the ‘p’ and pulled out her utter _tragedy_ of a cell phone, bringing up his contact and showing it to him. “Don’t let me keep you from your team.”

“Oh, darling, when Anthony puts his mind to something, no force on heaven or earth could stop him.” Loki winked at her, giving Tony an innocent look when he turned around again.

“Are you saying I’m stubborn, Reindeer Games?”

“I believe that is exactly what I am saying, my love.” Loki pressed a gentle kiss to Tony’s cheek, then turned back to Sage. “We shall leave you to settle in for a while. If you need anything, feel free to ask JARVIS, or call either Anthony or myself. Will you be alright if we venture to the communal floor?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll be good. Thanks for asking, though.” She smiled at them, and sighed softly as they exited the room. She collapsed backward on the humongous bed, and just laid there for a moment, staring at the ceiling. “Fuck.” she muttered, sitting up and grasping for her knapsack which she’d dropped by the side of the bed. “This is definitely going in the bullet journal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	6. Sage Meets the Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the tin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I gave Sage atmospheric powers. Basically, what I'm thinking is she can control the weather in a certain radius with her mood, but because it's a relatively simple power to understand, she learned to control it early on. I'm thinking I might add characters with more volatile abilities in later chapters, but for right now I wanted to start us off with a kid who's mostly got her powers under control, but could use a little TLC. Plus a little more Bruce time. Yay!
> 
> This chapter will be a bit longer to make up for last chapter being so short, and I discovered that I can't actually queue chapters, so I won't be able to post on Saturday probably. Sorry, guys!

Sage wandered around the room for a bit, just sort of exploring and getting a feel for the place. She took a quick selfie and posted it to Instagram with the caption “New foster family(again)!” Okay, that sounded bitter. She didn’t mean to sound bitter. She was actually pretty psyched. If this worked out, she’d be living with the Avengers. Really though, she just wanted to finally belong somewhere. If the place that she belonged was with a team of superheroes, she wasn’t complaining. Sage took a deep breath and carefully released a bit of her tenuous control over her powers. The sky above the tower cleared, and as she squinted upward out of the window, a pale bolt of lightning split the blue sky. She couldn’t help but grin even as she reigned her powers back in. Maybe it was time to go meet this team.

“Um… So, Tony mentioned an AI that ran the whole building?” She spoke into the air, hoping she was doing this right.

“That would be me, Miss Ahlers.”

Sage jumped slightly at the disembodied voice, but a smile quickly spread across her face as she made her way to the elevator. “Cool. Do you have a name?”

“Indeed. I am JARVIS.”

“Riiight. You’re the guy Loki was talking about. So, Jarvis… Is that, like, an acronym, or…?”

“Yes, Miss Ahlers.” JARVIS began taking the elevator to the communal floor, but the ride was so smooth that the girl didn’t notice. “Sir named me quite creatively. It stands for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.”

Sage smirked at the sarcasm she caught in the AI’s voice. “Mister Stark sure seems pretty chill. A bit wacko, but in a good way, you know?”

“Such a sentiment has been uttered by many a person who has met Sir, though never quite in that manner.”

The girl laughed aloud. “Are you saying I’m original, JARVIS?”

“Certainly, Miss Ahlers. This is the communal floor, if you would like to meet the Avengers.”

“Cool. Thanks, JARVIS.”

“Anytime.”

Sage left the elevator and looked around a bit warily. Most of the people in the room were gathered on the couches clustered around the enormous flat screen mounted on the wall. They were watching The Princess Bride, which caused her to smile. This movie was amazing.

“Hello.”

Sage turned at the quiet but cheerful voice at her side. She was met with the sight of none other than Doctor Bruce Banner, who’d been somewhat of an idol of hers ever since he’d accidentally created the Hulk. She practically couldn’t believe it. “Uh, hi.” She breathed, incredulous smile spreading along her face. “Oh my god.”

Bruce chuckled in a self-deprecating manner, mistaking her fangasm as aversion. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“No! I mean, like, oh my god, I’m standing right next to Bruce Banner and he’s holding a conversation with me, holy fuck this is the best day of my whole life.” She shoved her hands into her armpits to keep from waving them around. “Is it weird to say that I’m a massive fan of your alter ego? That’s probably weird. I’m probably weirding you out. Holy shit, Bruce Banner.”

A smile was slowly stretching across Bruce’s face, growing larger the longer she babbled. “I can see why Tony picked you. Or why… you picked Tony. It’s Sage, right?”

“Uh, yeah!” She fumbled a bit when he offered her his hand to shake, but quickly recovered and tried not to shake his hand too enthusiastically. “Oh my god.”

The scientist couldn’t help but chuckle again, cradling his tea against his chest once he’d reclaimed his hand. “Wanna meet the rest of the team?”

“Uh… sure?” Suddenly her excitement at meeting Bruce vanished a bit because she remembered that she was supposed to meet all these other people too. “Do… all of you live here on a regular basis?”

He offered her a pitying smile. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to interact with everyone every day of the week. Everyone’s got their own floors, all equipped with kitchens and bathrooms and the like. We all understand if you need a few days to acclimate before joining us for stuff, or even if you decide you never want to join. Some of the residents of this tower are a little…” He huffed a laugh, “Kooky.”

“Like ‘Addams Family’ kooky, or normal, ‘being a superhero can kinda fuck you up but we’re holding it together’ kooky?”

“Definitely the second.” He smiled softly and led her toward the couches, clearing his throat when they were close enough.

Tony looked over and bolted upright ecstatically. “Sage!”

She smiled shyly. “Hey.” She gave a small, awkward wave to the rest of them, feeling a bit out of place.

Steve smiled at her from where he was seated, Bucky leaning into him. “Hello, Sage.”

“Hi.” She waved again, immediately regretting it and shoving her hands into her jeans pocket. “So, um, Princess Bride?”

“Yes! Tis one of Friend Stark’s favourite movies!” Thor’s voice thundered from the corner where he was practically swaddled in one of the biggest, fluffiest blankets Sage had ever seen in her life. Bruce drifted over to sit beside the god and winked at her, placing his tea in Thor’s lap and snuggling into his side.

“Oh yeah?” She turned to Tony, giggling slightly at Bruce.

Tony’s face lit up. “Totally! Do you like it?”

“Are you kidding? How can anyone not like The Princess Bride?!”

“See! She agrees! You’re overruled, Agent!” Tony pointed an accusing finger at Phil, who rolled his eyes.

“Tony, I never said that I didn’t like The Princess Bride. I said it wasn’t my favourite.”

“That’s practically the same thing!” Sage cried, incredulous.

Tony slung an arm around her shoulders, backing off a little when he felt her tense. “This kid has better taste than all of you. I have a new best friend, I don’t need any of you anymore.”

Loki sighed exasperatedly. “Anthony, sit down so we can watch the movie you insisted on putting on. Sage, darling, feel free to sit wherever you like. There’s popcorn.” He offered her the bowl.

She smiled softly at him, walking around the couch and sinking to the ground in front of it. She sat, cross legged and leaned against the couch, fully aware of where Loki and Tony’s legs were hanging off the couch and observing the other occupants of the room. She’d seen this movie a million times, she figured she could afford to do some people watching right now.

\---

By the end of the movie, Sage was fairly certain she knew who was dating who, and had resolved that if she was wrong, she shipped it anyway.

She hadn’t put much stock in the whole “lovers since before the war” theory about Captain America and his best friend up until now. Thing was, nobody sat that close unless you’d been dating for years. In this case, she guessed it was centuries. Damn.

Bruce and Thor, she guessed, were more of a newer couple. The doctor seemed more comfortable around the god than anyone else, but he still didn’t seem fully able to relax. Of course, that may have been because of Hulk, she surmised.

Pietro and Wanda were sibling goals. She wished she could’ve gotten as close with any of her foster siblings as they were with each other. She wondered how open they would be to hanging out. It would be nice to talk to people a little bit closer to her own age, even if they were still quite a few years older.

She couldn’t quite figure out Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the guy Tony had called “Agent”, though. She was guessing they were poly, which, if they were, cool. They had an interesting dynamic from what she’d seen, though. Agent guy seemed very uptight, but also super chill. Black Widow was curled between him and Hawkeye like a cat, and Hawkeye himself looked to have just about as much nervous energy as some of the kids she’d babysat a few years ago. Those little monsters were cute, but damn could they run.

And then there was Tony and Loki. Frankly, she’d called it since the Battle of New York, which was totally fucked up. But, she mused to herself, villains as attractive as Loki were never truly evil. They were just “misguided.” Either way, she thought, they made a great couple, whether you were talking about looks or just chemistry in general. Tony was manic, and she loved it, but Loki had this… reserved air about him. He wasn’t reckless, at all. He carefully measured out everything he did long before he made his move. Tony, on the other hand, dived in headfirst. He threw himself in and quickly worked out any kinks he found along the way. It was intriguing, and she was looking forward to observing the whole team more.

She looked up to Tony and Loki once more as the third movie ended and the lights brightened the slightest, but not enough to disturb anyone who was sleeping. She supposed it was kind of late. She was so used to her fucked up sleep schedule that she hadn’t noticed. Loki was dozing against Tony’s shoulder, and to her amusement, drooling just the tiniest bit.

Tony noticed her gaze, and smirked, putting a finger to his lips. “So, I guess we’re probably going to head off to bed,” he told her in a hushed tone, “I can take you back up to your room if you want, or you can hang around on this floor for a while, whatever. I should probably stick him in bed though. He gets grumpy if I let him sleep on the couch. Apparently it’s bad for his back.”

She giggled, and responded, “Alright. I think I’ll stay down here for a bit, but I’ll probably head up soon.”

“It’s up to you.” He smiled at her softly, then turned his attention to the god. “Lokes.” He stroked his arm gently, whispering in his ear. “Loki, babe. Let’s get to bed, huh?” He smiled as green eyes fluttered open to meet his, and in a blink, the two of them were gone.

“That happens a lot.”

Sage turned to see Steve giving her a gentle grin, and returned one of her own. “Guess I’ll have to get used to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	7. Next Step to Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more acclimation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit more team bonding, and Sage asks some questions that I'm sure some people had. *cue hand-wavy comic book science*
> 
> Also... In case anyone was wondering, Sage's last name is pronounced like it's spelled. "Ahh-lers"

Sage woke up in her bed with The Office still playing quietly on the tv she had in her room. Man, this was cool. She groaned softly, realising she’d fallen asleep watching tv. Now she was going to have to back up.

“Good morning, MIss Ahlers.”

“Mornin’ fren.” She sighed and facepalmed. “That was lame, sorry. He, uh, JARVIS? What t-”

“It is nine thirty-seven in the morning. You fell asleep at around one fifteen, during episode thirteen of season five. Currently episode sixteen of season six is playing.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“The majority of the team is currently dining in the kitchen on the communal floor if you would be interested in joining them. I believe Sergeant Barnes has made pancakes.”

“Oooh, pancakes.” She climbed out of bed and threw on a pair of sweats, pulling her hair up into a bun. “Uh, JARVIS?”

“Yes, Miss Ahlers?”

“Who all’s in the kitchen?”

“Agent Coulson, Miss Romanoff, Mister Laufeyson, Mister Odinson, Sergeant Barnes, Captain Rogers, and Sir.”

“Right… So everyone but Hawkeye, Doctor Banner, and the twins.”

“That is correct. Doctor Banner routinely sleeps until ten, and Agent Barton is practicing in the archery range. I believe Mister Maximoff is with him, while Miss Maximoff is in her room, reading.”

“Oh.” She wandered to the elevator, muttering, “Of frickin’ course there’s an archery range. Hey, JARVIS? Is the Winter soldier… safe to be around?”

“Yes, MIss Ahlers. Sir and Doctor Strange have reversed his brainwashing completely. In fact, they did another cursory check to be positive that there was no possible way to trigger the Winter Soldier persona just before Sir and Mister Laufeyson began the process that led to fostering you.”

“Huh. And the Maximoff twins, there’s no chance that they’re… secretly evil?”

“None.”

“Cool.” She left the elevator and smiled slightly when everyone sitting around the island looked up. “Uh… Hey.”

“Good morning, Sage. You want some pancakes?”

She looked to the speaker, Steve, and noticed him motioning to the ingredients as if he, or Bucky who she’d heard was the one making pancakes,would have to make more batter. “Oh- no, I’m fine-”

“I’m making more anyway, if you were worried about that.” Bucky caught her gaze, blue eyes sparkling with mirth. “Between Steve and Thor we go through enough food to feed an army on a normal daily basis.”

Steve grinned at her sheepishly. “Fast metabolism.” He said, like that cleared everything up. Well, it kind of did, but it sort of didn’t.

Tony’s head emerged from where it had been buried in his arms, his hair a mess. “Hey,” he said soft enough that if she didn’t know better, she’d say he’d just woken up. “There’s coffee over on the counter, and Bucky’s making pancakes. Well, I think there’s coffee anyway. Unless you don’t drink coffee. Do you drink coffee? J?”

“I brewed a fresh pot a few moments ago, Sir.”

“Oh, thank god.” Tony rose and picked up the mug in front of him, pleased yet a little sad when Sage followed him, looking a bit like a lost puppy. He filled his own mug and, after a questioning glance at her, pulled another mug from the cabinet and filled that too. “Got any plans for today?”

She shrugged, spooning some sugar into her coffee and cradling it close to her chest, smiling when her glasses fogged up. “Dunno. Do you have plans for me today?”

He grinned a little guiltily. “Well, I don’t have plans for you… The rest of your stuff is supposed to get here today, though. I could help you settle in, if you want.”

“Sure, that could be cool.” She grinned softly at him, thankful that he wasn’t making her take all the steps to bond with him.

“Hey, Sage.”

She turned to Bucky, a little surprised that he knew her name. “Yeah?”

“One pancake or two?”

He smirked at her slight deer-in-the-headlights look, but totally empathized. Being thrown straight into a new situation and being expected to accept it as normal could be off-putting, he knew. 

“Uh, two, please.” She smiled at him, silently praising the lord for pancakes. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

“Sage, is there anything you’d like to do today?” Loki asked, cocking his head to the side and taking a sip of his tea.

She shrugged, looking back over he shoulder at Tony and pouring some syrup over her pancakes. “Unpacking sounds good. Organizing things is always fun.”

“Well,” Natasha piped up from her spot, “This was fun, but I’m going to go spar with Clint. Sage, if you get sick of boys, let’s set up a girl’s night, huh?”

“Y-yeah, sure!”

Nat smiled at her, a rare occasion as Sage would soon learn. “Good.” She exited after giving Phil a quick peck on the cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	8. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of bonding, a bit of moving in process, and a smidge of backstory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we come to the end of pre-written chapters. I will do my best to churn out a chapter a day from here on, but I make no distinct promises. Hope you like this one!

“So,” Tony started, just pulling things out of boxes at this point, “I know you go to a school kind of close to the tower, but there’s another one that’s closer.” He felt Sage’s gaze snap to him, and did his best to keep his face neutral. This was her decision. “Jean suggested that we transfer you, but I kinda wanted your opinion on the matter. How’s the school you’re at now? Would you like to transfer, or are you good where you’re at?” He glanced toward her and saw her glance away, intently studying the cover of the book in her hands.

“Uh,” Sage cleared her throat. “I think… I’d like to stay. I’ve been doing really well where I’m at, and I’ve actually made a few friends there, so… yeah.”

Tony nodded. “Alright, then. Oh, also, I won’t be able to drive you to school, because, well.” He motioned to his face, smiling when Sage giggled. “Loki would totally take you… if he had a driver’s licence. Which we’re working on. JARVIS, remind me to work on that.”

“Of course, Sir. Sir?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“There’s a reminder to ‘work on’ getting Mr. Laufeyson a driver’s licence.”

Sage cackled and Tony rolled his eyes.

“Sage, remind me to donate my sassy AI to MIT.”

“Right. I’ll be sure to do that.” Sage couldn’t resist litting sarcasm ooze from her words, making Tony throw up his hands in mock-desperation. “The amount of utter sass surrounding me!” He smiled when Sage giggled again and went back to unpacking things. “Not to be that guy, but holy shit, Sage, how many books do you have?”

She grinned sheepishly. “You wanna see my list?”

\---

Loki knocked softly on the door as he entered, a little taken aback but not at all surprised upon seeing the state of the room. “I can see that you two still have quite the way to go, but Barton made food.”

Tony’s face lit up. “Did he make grilled cheese? Please tell me he made grilled cheese.”

The god chuckled. “Yes, he did. Honestly, Anthony, did you expect anything different? Grilled cheese is the only thing Barton can make.”

“You say that like he doesn’t make a damn fine grilled cheese.”

Loki rolled his eyes, then surveyed the amount of books strewn about. “I believe we should put in an order for more bookshelves.” When Sage flushed, he smirked at her fondly. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a similar affliction. We can set the bookshelves after we eat. I’d gladly help you shelve your books. Do you have a specific organization method, or could I assist with that too?”

“Oh, she’s good, Lo’.” Tony winked at Sage as he took a sip of long cold coffee. “Got a whole cataloging system based on genre and author’s name.”

“Really?” Loki turned back to Sage, arching an impressed brow. “That must have taken quite a good amount of time.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Sage gushed about her entire sorting process all the way out to the elevator and down to the common floor. “And then, I had to sort them. Ugh, it took days.”

“What are we talking about?” Coulson asked as they entered the kitchen.

Sage flushed slightly, just realising how much she must have been talking to have missed the entire journey to the kitchen. “Uh, m-my books. I’ve- well. I’ve got a whole bunch of them, see, and so a while ago, I decided that I needed a way to know at a quick glance which books I had in a series, how many books I had in a certain genre, et cetera.”

“What are your favourite series?” Steve joined in, looking actually interested. Sage was a little surprised.

“Well… Probably The Lord of the Rings. If we’re talking about the series I have the most of though… That’s definitely either Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.”

“Those are still around? Man, those series are almost as old as us!” Steve hit Bucky lightly on the chest and the brunet chuckled.

“Ain’t that the truth.” He gave Sage a toothy grin. “How many do you have?”

“Not nearly as many as I’d like. I think I have about twenty books from each series… I’m not quite as into amassing the full series as I was when I was much smaller. Plus, there was a point in the series where I started just… not liking them as well. Like, somewhere in the fifties. I’m not sure. Pro tip, if you like the original series, do not read the casefiles books. They were terrible. I hated them.”

Steve chuckled. “Good to know. What’s your favourite Hardy Boys?”

“Funny you should ask.” She smiled shyly. “Actually, um. The very first one. You know, Tower Treasure. Because, when I was really little, my dad read it to me. I didn’t realise until years later, after he was... gone, that he’d… never actually finished reading the book.” Her mouth twisted up wistfully. “It was fun though, discovering an ending that I’d never heard before.” She forced a smile, and accepted the grilled cheese that Clint offered her, noticing with a tiny, undignified snort that Tony was already well through chowing down on one.

“So, how are you liking things here so far?” Clint asked her with his most charming smile. “You can say Pietro weirds you out, it’s okay.”

“Hey!” Pietro seemed to be trying to glare at Clint, but the effect was ruined by the bit of melted cheese clinging to his chin. Sage tried not to laugh.

“I think I’m more concerned about whether I weird PIetro out, but, no, um… Yeah. This is… cool.”

Tony beamed at her, leaning slightly into Loki. Hopefully this meant that nothing they’d done or said so far had made her uncomfortable. This could work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	9. The Trials of IKEA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone needed bookshelves. Someone's gotta put them together. This is harder than you'd think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I've never actually been to an IKEA nor put together any of their (or any) furniture. I've just heard that it's a pain.
> 
> Also, sorry this chapter is so short, I just wanted to get one up for you guys!

Sage and Tony had been trying to put together this damn bookshelf for at least an hour, and there was no end in sight. Loki had the faintest thought that this might end in tears. He waited until Tony took a break to go get coffee and Sage had sat down in the corner with one of the Game of Thrones books, and began to assemble the bookshelf. Admittedly, with magic, but there was a guarantee it would never fall apart. He put together two more shelves by the time Tony had returned, and he noticed that Sage’s amusement and anticipation mirrored his own.

“Whoa, what the shit?” Tony looked to Sage, bewildered by her snickering. “How did you- you had as much-” realisation dawned on him, and her turned to Loki. “Lo’, I told you I wanted to do it!”

“I left one for you to assemble, Anthony, never fear.” Loki smirked at the inventor, unable to resist a bit of teasing.

“Can you believe this guy?” Tony threw up his hands and turned to Sage, acting exasperated. Seeing her hiding giggles behind her hand, his heart melted a bit, but he kept up the pretense. “Et tu, Sage? I’m being disrespected in my own home. How did you even figure out how to set it up?” He directed the question to Loki.

The god shrugged, willing to continue the game, but Sage piped up from the corner.

“He used magic.” Her eyes were bright with excitement. “It was super cool.” She realised both of them were looking at her, and flushed slightly. “Sorry. It’s just… So much different than my powers. His magic is so… subtle and refined. Elegant. Like, all of a sudden, there’s parts of a bookshelf just floating around and putting themselves together, and he’s barely breaking a sweat, and they just glide, ya know? My powers? Pssh.” She waved a hand as if dismissing the notion. “My powers are explosive, and emotional, and nowhere near subtle. I mean, I get mad and vwhoompf, there’s a thunderstorm. I get sad enough, and oh hey, it’s raining! I’ve even made twisters form during panic attacks before. It’s just… so cool.”

Loki smiled at her gently. “I am glad you appreciate my magic, Sage. I must say, your powers intrigue me, though. I understand your wish to keep a tight control over them, but I would like to see your powers in action sometime, if you’d be amenable.”

Sage looked down and to the side, biting her lip lightly. “I- I guess I wouldn’t mind.” She glanced up shyly. “No one’s ever… wanted to see my powers before. It’s always easier to just… keep ‘em under wraps.” She grinned brightly at Loki. “I’d totally show you if you want. I mean, now’s probably not great timing, because we’re… you know, inside, and we’ve still gotta put together that one shelf, and then I’ve gotta actually shelve the books, but um.” She couldn’t help but smile again. “Yeah. We should… yeah.”

Tony regarded her softly, scarcely able to hide his own smile. “What say we get this damn bookshelf put together, huh? Maybe Mister Magic-Pants over there could help us with this one.” He winked at Loki, and pulled him by the hand onto the floor next to him and Sage. “So, Lokes, since you’ve already put two of these together, what’s the first step?”

Loki rolled his eyes and pulled out the instruction manual. “Perhaps, Anthony, if you would read the instructions, you would not have so much trouble with this. Now…”

As Sage collapsed into her bed that night, her room feeling much more like home now that she had bookshelves, she couldn’t help but smile. This was going better than expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	10. School Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> School mornings in the tower are something that might take a little getting used to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this chapter a bit longer, as sort of an apology for the shortness of the last chapter, but I'm not quite sure that I accomplished that.
> 
> If any of you have ideas for things that might happen, or scenes you'd like to see, let me know! So far, I don't exactly have a whole plot planned out, and I'd love to write things *for* you guys!

Tony and Loki met Sage in the communal kitchen the next morning, Loki looking alert and ready for his day, while Tony looked like he had just crawled out of bed.

“Good morning, Sage.” Loki greeted her, Tony mumbling a muffled “mornin’” as well.

“Morning.” She smiled at them, and took a sip of the coffee in her hands, scanning the textbook in front of her.

Tony glanced at the textbook tiredly as he poured himself a mug of coffee as well. “That homework?”

Sage shrugged. “It’s just ‘studying’. I like looking through the chapter we just went over before a test, just so that there’s a chance I absorb just that bit more that will help me ace it.”

He smirked at her. “Not a huge studier, huh?”

“It’s not that… exactly. I made up a study sheet, and I took good notes, but with the move and things, I haven’t had the most opportunity to be studying. Not that I really think I would have studied that much anyway, but, you know.”

Tony hummed and glanced at Loki momentarily, feeling slightly guilty. “I would offer to help you with studying, but… I’m probably not the best person for that.” He grinned at her ruefully. “Studying and I never really got along. Not that I really needed to study.” He snapped suddenly, face lighting up. “Rhodey would help you study though! Wait, you haven’t met Rhodey.” He smacked himself in the forehead. “How have you not met Rhodey.”

“I believe you were rather preoccupied with other things, and introducing Miss Ahlers to Colonel Rhodes wasn’t a top priority, Sir.”

Tony glared up at the ceiling while Loki smirked and Sage covered up her laugh with a cough. “Did anyone ask you JARVIS?”

“No one else was replying, Sir.”

At this, Sage guffawed, but she immediately quieted, directing her giggles into her coffee mug.

Tony glared at her playfully. “If it wasn’t so early in the morning, I would be offended.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Loki rolled his eyes at the AI, and turned to Sage. “I believe Happy will be driving you to school today, but I would be more than happy-” He narrowed his eyes slightly at Tony’s snicker, “To accompany you, if you wish.”

Sage considered the offer, and smiled at him. “Sure, that’d be cool.” Then, she bit her lip. “Except… Probably don’t… like, get out at the school.” She winced. “No offense, but my friends usually wait outside for me in the mornings, and I wouldn’t want them harassing you or something.”

Loki laughed softly. “While I don’t think that’s a large cause for concern, I will concede that you admittedly know more about schooling here. If we were on Asgard that would be a different story, but thankfully we are not.”

Tony smirked. “Yeah, but you’ve never really had experience with teenage girls, have you, Loki? One look at you and there’d be a mob.” He winked at Sage when Loki turned to him, looking confused. “It’s cos you’re hot, babe. Don’t worry. Nothing personal.”

Sage snorted quietly, turning her attention back to her book. “Yeah, I think that’ll work though. Like, I’m totally fine taking the bus, but whatever works.”

Tony wrinkled his nose. “The bus? Yeah, okay, that is never going to happen.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

“No breakfast, Sage?”

The girl looked up, startled at the new voice, but relaxed slightly when she realised it was Steve. He must have just gone for a run, judging by how much he was sweating. She resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose in distaste. “Nah. I’m not much of a breakfast person normally. Plus I’m really bad at, like, deciding what to eat, so…”

“Cap, not everyone has to like breakfast at ass o’clock in the morning, okay?”

Steve frowned at Tony. “But breakfast is-”

“If you say ‘most important meal of the day,’ I’m going to straight up scream.”

Everyone turned to look at Sage with wide eyes, but she didn’t look up from her book.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve heard that. I get it, breakfast is great. I love brunch, myself. I just cannot physically eat this early in the morning, I get sick to my stomach. So just don’t.” She turned the page and glanced up at Steve. “Sorry.”

He held up his hands, conceding defeat. “If you can’t eat breakfast, that’s fine. I just think that some people in this tower,” he looked exaggeratedly to Tony, “Could stand to eat something before noon.”

“Right, I think that that’s my cue to leave.” Tony winked at Sage as he headed toward the elevator. “Have a good day at school, Sage. I expect to hear about it when you get home.

She gave him a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”

He grinned at her, and went down to his workshop, making a plan in his mind for what he needed to and could get done while Sage was at school, and what would need to be set on the back burner for now. He’d probably have to cut back on his workshop binges, but this, he thought, was worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!  
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	11. Making It Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really wordy, because I wanted to give you guys a longer chapter to make up for the shorter chapters I've been putting out and that one I missed. Also, I tend to make most of my chapters really dialogue heavy, so here's one that's not! ... Mostly.
> 
> I know this chapter sort of seems like an ending point, but it's not, don't worry! I still have vague plans for this, even if I've got no actual clue how I'll get there haha
> 
> SO. Let me know if there are scenes you'd like to see or anything.
> 
> Also, quick translations because I used Google Translate during this chapter! *nervous laughter* If anyone actually speaks Russian and wants to correct my... whatever you'd call it, please please do! I just used Russian since Sokovia doesn't actually exist, and I figure Sokovian and Russian are probably pretty similar. Anyway.  
> Блядь! - Fuck!  
> скорый - speedy

A few months, and a couple holidays later, and Sage was settling in nicely. She’d taken to going on runs with Steve, Bucky and Pietro when it wasn’t too cold in the mornings, then she would join Tony and Loki for a cup of coffee or two before she went off to school. After school, she’d either pester Clint in the archery range or visit Bruce in his lab or challenge Thor to a game of Mario Kart. Sometimes Natasha would squirrel her away for the night for what they called “girl time,” complete with Wanda, Pepper and Maria Hill, though Tony knew for a fact that Phil was invited too. He could never quite get out of her what she and Loki did together with their afternoons, but the highlight of his weeks were when Sage would visit him in his workshop. The two wouldn’t always talk, sometimes he would just continue tinkering while she played with the bots or read her books. When they did talk however, they always ended up laughing so hard that one or both of them cried, or discussing deep things like boys and feelings.

Tony rolled his eyes and snorted at that last thought. Because boys and feelings were such deep topics. They were though, especially during conversations with Sage. That girl was so self-aware for a fifteen year old, it astounded him. Sure, he’d been at MIT at fifteen, but Sage was so conscious of herself and everything around her. His mom would have loved her, that he could say for certain.

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, he knew her favourite colour (purple), her Hogwarts house (Ravenclaw, like Bruce), her favourite flower (tulips), her favourite breed of dog (Newfoundland), and her favourite holiday (Saint Patrick’s Day). He’d managed to get away with giving her things over these last few months, despite the look that both she and Loki gave him every time. He’d given her free reign of his Amazon account too, though she still asked him every time she wanted to get something, which he found ridiculously endearing.

Absolutely everyone on the team loved her. She and Pietro never failed to joke around during dinner, and during movie nights she’d curl up between him and Wanda on one of the couches. Tony had caught them on several occasions, pointing to different team members and snickering when Wanda used her powers to flick popcorn at them. They hadn’t targeted him and Loki yet, but he had a feeling it was only a matter of time.

The thing that made Tony the happiest, though, was the bits of her personality that Sage had finally let peek through. She was incredibly shy at the start, but he thought- he hoped that they were moving past that. Whereas before, when she’d snap her mouth shut and stay quiet for several minutes if any of her dry wit or sarcasm escaped, now barely a minute would go by without a sardonic comment or sarcastic remark from Sage. She’d become so comfortable with them in such a short amount of time, and it made Tony’s heart positively soar. He’d noticed from the start that Sage seemed to be somewhat adverse to touch, which made him overly conscious of his more tactile instincts. It was hard, at first, but he completely understood, so he’d tried to keep his distance. And then, one day, they’d had a conversation. It started out normally, Sage telling him about how her day had gone and what had happened, when she suddenly got all choked up.

Truth be told, he’d panicked. He didn’t know what to do with someone who was crying if he wasn’t allowed to hug them. He’d cautiously asked what was wrong, hoping that if he could get Sage to talk it out, then she would feel better.

She’d sniffled and wrapped her arms around herself, obviously trying to pull herself together, and his heart had ached. She whispered something about how that day would have been the day that she’d have celebrated her childhood dog’s birthday. She’d laughed wetly when she said it, wiping her nose on her sleeve and grimacing when she looked at it. It was stupid, she’d said, because she didn’t even know her dog’s birthday. But, when she was little she used to always insist to her parents that it’s birthday was September thirty-first. She said her parents would laugh at her because they knew as well as she did that there was no thirty-first of September, but they would celebrate on October first just the same. After she’d told him, she’d sat there for a moment, just sort of staring at the ground. She’d looked up slightly and choked out a laugh when U bumped her, beeping sadly, then she’d met Tony’s eyes, her own still watering. “Sorry,” she’d said, “I just thought you’d appreciate that.” She bit her lip then, and launched herself into his arms, and his immediate reflex had been to wrap her tightly in a hug.

Since then, he’d discovered how tactile she truly was. It was shortly after this incident that she really began intentionally squeezing between Wanda and Pietro on movie nights. He noticed her hip checking Natasha when the redhead would let her win a game of ping pong, and ecstatically hugging Clint every time she beat Bruce at Mario Kart. He even saw her hug Loki every now and again, though it seemed to him that her favourite people to hug were Thor and the super soldiers. He didn’t blame her. They had so much muscle. Anyway.

Tony smiled as he watched the most recent game of Dutch Blitz commence. Sage had brought the game with her when she moved in, and once she’d taught them how to play, it was an instant hit. There had been a couple times where they nearly had to ban Pietro because he started getting so worked up that he unintentionally used his speed, but once that had become a legitimate threat, he quickly fixed the problem. Usually they would get at least eight people playing at once, and Sage actually had enough sets to play with all eleven of them - twelve if Bruce decided he could handle a few rounds that day - but games with everyone rarely happened. It was funny, actually, because Tony had been surprised that she had enough sets for twelve people to play at first, but she soon explained that she grew up with a very large family, who loved playing. She always got a little sad when she mentioned her birth family, but it didn’t take much to cheer her up again.

Currently, it was Sage against Pietro, Wanda, and Clint, which was always an entertaining game. Sometimes he could have sworn that Clint was the twins’ age for how much he acted like an absolute child. Sage was snickering, and it took him a minute to figure out why. He noticed that her playing had slowed down considerably from five seconds ago, and realised that she’d just blitzed, but she hadn’t called it. He chuckled, and gave her a thumbs up when she glanced up at him.

Sage snorted, and turned her focus back on the game, tongue between her teeth. She may have just technically won the game, but dammit she was here to win by card count. “Clint! Green six.”

“Oh, no. I’m not dumb. Play something else. That’s in your shuffle pile.”

“Come on! I’m trying to help you, dude! It’s right on top of your ten stack! Pleeeeeease?”

“Clint, play the damn card.”

Sage glanced to Wanda, surprised, but saw that the other girl had the green eight, and smirked. Pietro had the same card on his pile.

Clint huffed, but played the card. Sage laid hers down too, and jumped out of the way as the twins slammed their cards down simultaneously.

“That was mine!”

“No way!”

Sage grinned and called, “Dutch! Alright, let’s find out…” She pulled up both green eights and looked at the backs. She grimaced sympathetically at Pietro. “Her card was on bottom.”

“Блядь!”  
Wanda smirked at him, and they resumed play, Clint laying a red five and calling,

“Blitz!”

“Dammit!” Pietro picked up his pile and muttered out his count, “One, two, three, four- five! I still had five cards!”

“Guess you’ll just have to be faster, kid.” Sage looked proud of herself for that, and Tony facepalmed at the island.

Wanda pointed to the elevator with a shit-eating grin on her face, “There’s the door. Leave.”

“You just don’t want me to beat you again.” Sage waggled her eyebrows at the other girl as she taunted her, dodging the playful smack easily. She quickly counted up the cards she had out and grinned happily, shouting, “Thirty!”

The rest groaned, Pietro shoving her over lightly as she laughed. “That’s not fair! I only got out seventeen!”

“Ha, you only got seven points.” She stuck out her tongue at the speedster, smiling and throwing her arm around him in a side hug when he pouted. “Don’t worry, скорый. I’ll go easy on you this round.”

Tony laughed loudly from his seat at the island. He knew for a fact that Sage had only learned that in order to taunt Pietro. If he didn’t love her so much, he’d almost feel bad for finding it so funny. “You kids keep me young.”

“You wish!” Clint called over his shoulder, laughing when Tony couldn’t find something nearby to throw at him.

“Hey, old man, you’re keeping us from starting.”

Sage cackled at Pietro’s taunt. “I’ve taught you well, young padawan. Hey, we ready?” She looked to Clint just as he was laying out his last card, and shot Tony a manic grin. “Alright. Ready. Set… Go!”

The chatter stopped in favour of the sound of shuffling cards and shouts of dissent one person played the card another had their eye on.

It was things like this, Tony was sure, that helped Sage settle in so well. The fact that the team was ready and willing to learn and play games with her. The fact that everyone joked so well with each other, and knew not to take offense. Everyone knowing when not to take things too far. Just, that family feeling. He was happy. Sage was happy. This was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	12. School Troubles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage is having a bit of trouble in one of her classes, so she decides to start asking for help.
> 
> Feat. Papa Bear Bruce and Protective Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about how late this chapter is. I wanted to take it one way, and then it ran away from me in an entirely separate direction.
> 
> That being said, yes, I have had some issues with my Chemistry teacher the past, oh, I don't know, semester? I needed to vent a little. Sue me.  
> (Don't, actually, I'm a broke high school student. Had to pay for my own class ring and everything and that shit's expensive.)

Tony looked over at Sage, a bit worried. Normally he loved when she’d come sit with him in the workshop after school, but today it felt like she was escaping from something. He understood, of course. He was no stranger to escaping things in the workshop, but her escape felt stifling. It felt like she was keeping something from him, and he was dying to know what it was she was hiding from. She seemed off today. She hadn’t said a word to him today, which was sort of normal, but she’d barely said anything to the bots either. Butterfinger nudged her with a sad beep, and she patted him absentmindedly, looking zoned out. Tony lost it when she sniffled.

“Sage, what’s wrong?”

Her eyes snapped to him, widening in what he was praying wasn’t fear. “What- I’m not- nothing’s- everything’s fine.”

“Bullshit.”

Sage flinched slightly, and Tony cursed himself.

“Honey, you’ve been ridiculously quiet today. You’re ignoring the bots, you haven’t said anything to me, and I know you’ve been crying. I’m inattentive, not blind.”

She bit her lip, eyes welling up with tears as her face crumpled. “I- um. It’s nothing, really. J-just stupid ch-chemistry.” She let out a sob, and Tony crossed the room in a few quick strides, immediately pulling her into a hug.

Neither of them knew how long they sat there, but eventually Sage’s tears ran dry and they pulled apart slowly, Tony keeping one hand on her back, rubbing in soothing circles while he handed her a tissue.

She laughed wetly, noting softly, “I got tears on your shirt.”

Tony waved it off. “Shirts wash. You wanna tell me what’s going on?”

Sage blew her nose and avoided his eyes. “You remember how, when I moved in, I told you I really like my school?” He nodded, and she continued. “I do. I mean, it’s got a lot of… problems, but I love my school, and I wouldn’t give it or my friends up for the world. That being said, I’m about two days away from dropping Chemistry. And I know that’s dumb, okay? I know. We’re only halfway through first semester, and if I drop it now, I’ll lose the class credit, and all the work I’ve put in up to this point will have been worthless.” Her voice broke, but she scrubbed at her eyes and continued, leaning into Tony. “I was really psyched about Chemistry at first, ya know? It seemed like a cool class, and I was expecting to get one of my favourite teachers from last year, and I thought it would be great. Obviously, I was wrong.” She motioned to her face weakly, obviously indicating her tears. “The teacher… ugh. He just… He doesn’t know how to teach me. I’m primarily an auditory learner, and all the teaching he does caters to visual and kinesthetic learners. When I ask him questions to try and understand what he’s teaching, half the time he doesn’t understand the question I’m asking. The other half of the time, he says ‘oh, it’s just simple algebra.’ That pisses me the fuck off. Because I’m good at algebra. Don’t tell me that it’s fucking algebra, explain it to me so that I can understand. I just…” She choked back a sob and looked down at the tissue crumpled between her hands. “I want to understand. I want to learn. I so badly want to understand what he’s teaching us, and I want to understand the reasons behind it, and why the things happen, but I can’t. I can’t learn when he can’t teach me. I’ve been trying so hard to figure this stuff out. I look stuff up, I look up YouTube videos and TedTalks and articles on various websites to help me figure this stuff out, but at this point, I’m just teaching myself. And I know for a fact that it isn’t any better for the rest of the class. I’ve talked about this with other students, none of the rest of them get it either. I’ve cried twice at school. I don’t cry at school. Or in front of people in general. Ever. I hate showing any sort of weakness in front of anyone I’m not one hundred percent comfortable with, but it’s happened more than once. I can’t do this anymore.”

Tony pulled her back into a tight hug, feeling her shudder against him, and trying to process everything Sage had just told him. He wasn’t equipped for this. He was just figuring out how to deal with his own emotions, much less someone else’s. He needed backup. “Kiddo, I know you’re struggling, but to be frank with you,” he smiled as she giggled, “I’m a little lost here. We’re going to figure this out, though, okay?” He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “Let’s go upstairs. We’ll have a powwow with Loki and Bruce and get you a cup of tea and come up with a solution, okay?”

She nodded, leaning into him slightly, eyes closed as if she was trying to compose herself. “Okay,” she whispered softly, standing with him, and gladly taking the hand he offered her.

\---

“I’m out of my depth, here, Loki. I never had this problem. And if I had, Howard wouldn’t have helped me with it. I don’t know what to do!”

Loki put his hands gently in the crooks of Tony’s elbows, and looked him in the eyes, trying to convey his calm to his lover. “Anthony, it’s alright. Sage is a brilliant girl, I’m sure we can figure out some way to help her survive the rest of the class long enough to get at least one credit for the class. I’m not sure I want her taking the full semester, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. There are steps we can take, and people we can turn to and utilize. You do know what to do. If you didn’t why would you invite Banner?”

“Well, Sage seems to like Bruce, and I figured he’d be able to help her with some of her questions because I’m not good at the whole teaching bit, but Bruce loves Sage, and-”

“Darling.” Loki held Tony’s darting gaze with his own, fixed one. “Listen to yourself. You knew exactly what to do, you utter buffoon. You brought someone in who was, admittedly, more knowledgeable in the topic at hand and who would be able to help with the situation. My love, for a genius, you can be quite dense at times.”

Tony scowled at him, hands still clenching at Loki’s sleeves from his momentary panic. “But, I just feel like…” He ducked his head and wouldn’t meet Loki’s piercing green eyes. “This is something I should be able to help her with.”

“Anthony.” Loki’s voice was softened considerably, and he drew Tony closer, his hands moving to the small of the other man’s back. “You are helping her. You don’t need to be the one instructing her to be a help. Getting someone who will be able to teach her the concepts properly and answer the questions is the best help we can give, particularly if we aren’t the ones who can teach those concepts or give those answers. She knows you love her, darling. Do you truly think that she would have brought this to you if she didn’t? The last time this happened, she hid in the library with me for a week, frantically reading that damned textbook and scribbling down notes on her own.”

“She-” Tony’s eyes snapped to Loki’s, looking hurt and disappointed.

“No. Don’t do that to yourself. She came down to you this time.” Loki smiled softly. “She knew you would help, when she was ready to ask for it. She knew I would not press the matter until she was ready and willing to talk. She knows you love her, and she quite obviously returns the sentiment. Bringing this to you was a step forward, my love. We’ve made progress. We may not keep that, and we need to be ready to accept that, but we have made progress.”

Tony sighed and dropped his head to the crook of Loki’s neck, closing his eyes and blowing out a deep breath. ‘You’re right. You’re right. Thank you, babe.”

Loki smiled gently and kissed Tony’s temple. “Any time, my genius.”

\---

Bruce and Sage were huddled over her Chemistry book, mugs of tea pushed to the side for now in order to make room for notebooks and loose papers and Bruce’s hands.

“This notebook is a disaster. Why is he making you glue things in?”

Sage shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. It drives me nuts. I asked him once, ‘hey, Mr Lafitte, could I just keep these in a folder?’ and I shit you not, he goes, ‘no, I want you to have them all in one place where you can find them.’ I was like, ‘really? Because gluing them in a notebook keeps them so much more organized?’ I’m just… so done with him. Like, I’m almost to the point where I don’t even care if I lose the credit, and I’ve been working to get all my credits in super early. Like this is pissing me off, and frustrating me, and I can’t take it.”

“Tony,” Bruce turned to him as soon as he entered the room, “This is ridiculous. This teacher is garbage and you know how much I hate describing people like that. He is useless as a functional teacher. He’s teaching this material like they should already know it, and he’s not teaching it in any comprehensive manner that I can decipher. She’s given me her notes from this teacher and the Biology teacher she had last year, and I’ll let you guess which of the two makes any sort of sense.”

“Not this Lafitte, I’ll wager.” Loki had a sort of cold fire burning behind his eyes, promising retribution. “Why is this man allowed to teach if he is doing so poorly at it?”

“That’s what I want to know! My best friend’s mom is president of the board, and I can’t figure out why Susan isn’t doing anything. Like, my friend, Riesling, is struggling more in this class than I am! Not that you’d, you know, actually be able to tell that I’m barely getting by in this class, because my barely getting by is still well above average, but that’s not what’s important!”

“Wait, what’s your grade?”

“Tony-”

“Anthony-”

Bruce and Loki glanced at each other as they said Tony’s name at the same time. Sage giggled.

 

“No, come on, I’m just wondering.”

Sage bit her lip. “Well… It’s an A, but-”

“That’s my girl!” Tony held his hand up for a high five, and she gladly gave him one.

“Tony, this doesn’t change the fact that Sage isn’t learning the material. She’s a brilliant test taker, but that only goes so far.”

“Yeah, yeah. Um.” Tony dragged a hand down his face. “How bad is it, Bruce? Could you help tutor her?”

“Of course, but-”

“Please, Doctor Banner?” Sage turned her best puppy dog eyes on the man until he gave in.

Bruce sighed. “I would never say no, you know that. But this needs to be fixed, Tony.”

“And it will be. Guarunteed. Let’s just… get through the semester, and then I’ll flounce in guns blazing, okay?”

Sage snickered at the mental picture, but Bruce nodded, resigned. “Alright, well, we might as well get to work.” He slid one mug of tea toward Sage, noting dryly, “We may need something a bit stronger.”

“I’ve already begun a pot of coffee, Doctor Banner.”

“Thank you, JARVIS.”

“Alright, well, I think we’ll leave you two crazy kids to your studying-”

Sage caught Tony by the sleeve before he’d quite stepped away from the table and looked like she wanted to say something. “Hey, um…” She cleared her throat. “I just wanted to say thanks. For, you know. This. Everything.”

He slid his hand into hers and squeezed gently. “You don’t have to.” He smiled at her, and took Loki’s hand with his free one. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah.” She grinned at Bruce, then back at Tony. “I think we’ll be good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	13. The Windup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Loki decide to take some action sooner rather than later, and schedule a meeting with Sage's school counselor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow, you guys, I am *so sorry* that this chapter took me so long! I'm back at school and I've started working concessions again, and I'm just a bit swamped, so, again, sorry.
> 
> I think I'm going to start updating on Saturdays now instead of every day, just to lighten my work load a little and hopefully get some stuff prewritten again. Plus, I think that leaves you guys in suspense a little more (which you may hate or love. I accept that fate).
> 
> Thank you for those who've stuck with the story this far, and welcome to new readers! You guys keep me going!

“Lokes?” Tony whispered the god’s name, hoping he was still awake too. “Loki.”

“Hmm?” He rolled over to face the inventor, blinking blearily.

“Can’t sleep.” Tony admitted, guilt roiling in his gut. “I just…”

Loki sighed and wrapped his arms around Tony, leaning their foreheads together. “I know, love. And, unfortunately, I know you, and know that you won’t be able to rest until this matter is resolved.” He pressed a kiss to Tony’s temple as the other man buried his face in the crook of his neck. “Is it worth continuing to lie here, or do you need to get up?”

Tony shrugged and mumbled something unintelligible.

“I can’t understand you.”

The inventor huffed and drew back slightly. “I don’t know. I can’t do anything right now. It’s exam studying breakdown o’clock. It’s way past business hours. I can’t schedule a meeting with her counselor, I can’t go tell this teacher to pull his head out of his ass and realise these kids aren’t learning anything.”

“I have already informed Miss Potts of the situation, and she’s made an appointment with the counselor for tomorrow morning at nine.”

“Really? J?”

“Mister Laufeyson indeed had Miss Potts make such an appointment, Sir.”

Tony turned back to Loki, his eyes wide. “I love you.”

Loki chuckled fondly. “And I you, yet you still trust your AI over me.”

“Not all the time!”

“It is only because Sir created me, Mister Laufeyson.”

Tony shot the ceiling a betrayed look. “Traitor.”

“If I may, Sir, until a more decent hour perhaps you could compose your thoughts in a comprehensive manner to present at this meeting.”

“I think JARVIS just called me emotional.”

“With good reason.” Loki muttered. “He does have a point, Anthony. It would be best to arrive well-rested, but well prepared is a close second. Record your thoughts. Have JARVIS take note, and when you are finished, allow me to make edits. Then you can take that to the meeting. Alright?”

Tony sighed. “Yeah, yeah. I get it, you win.”

Loki smirked. “As I well should.”

\---

“Sage, darling?”

“Hmm?”

She took a sip of her smoothie. She’d taken to drinking them instead of eating breakfast so that she wasn’t already starving by third period.

“Anthony and I are going to pay your counselor a visit today.”

The poor girl almost choked. “You’re what now?”

“It’s just ot make sure you can drop the class second semester and still get credit.” Tony smiled at her sympathetically. “I just don’t want you to have to deal with this crap for longer than you have to.”

“You’re actually coming into the school?”

“Yeah…” Tony hesitated at her look of panic. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Totally! It’s just…” She set her smoothing down and began drumming her fingers on the counter. “There’s only, like, a hundred sixty kids in my school. If word gets out Tony Stark is my foster dad, the populars with want to ‘be my friend.’ I-”

“I can put a glamour over him, Sage.”

Her wide eyes turned on Loki. “What?”

“I can put a glamour on both him and myself so that only you, your counselor, and we will be able to see us truly. To everyone else, we will be average private school fathers.”

“He just wants to see me in a sweater vest.” Tony winked at her and Sage giggled. “Hey, if you’re really worried about it, we’ll do everything possible to make sure I’m not recognized, okay?”

“Okay…” She gave a tight smile and wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly in a hug. “Thanks for this, again.”

“Hey.” He lifted up her chin so she would look at him. “Seriously, it’s no problem. I literally signed up for this.”

She smirked. “Guess you did. Too bad you got stuck with me.”

“Uh-uh. None of that. Drink your smoothie, kid. Let’s hit the road.”

\---

It was weird, Sage thought, having Tony ride with her on the way to school. She was used to taking the drive with Loki in the mornings, with him usually reading a book while she scrolled through social media on her phone. Tony was a talker, which honestly wasn’t a bad thing. It was just… different.

Tony chattered the entire drive to the school, and for the most part Sage was snickering at his ridiculous stories while Loki just nodded along and hummed in appropriate spots. Sometimes Sage wondered about their dynamic. When they weren’t together, you would swear the two couldn’t possibly get along. Loki was so quiet and reserved most of the time. Rarely was he seen without a book in hand. Tony, on the other hand was so loud and brash and… Tony. In his lab, there was always music blaring, and he was so reckless. Sometimes there were days where Sage didn’t think she’d seen Tony sit still for even ten minutes. Together though? Man, together they were a force to be reckoned with. 

They balanced each other, funnily enough. Tony around Loki was more subdued. Less sporadic. More focused. Around Tony, Loki smiled more. He was downright mischievous in a way that he didn’t seem to be able to let himself be alone. Sage loved the way they acted around each other. She felt like they were both.. Freer that way. Like those little things from their pasts that still haunted them just melted away whenever they saw each other.

She was a little terrified of the outcome of their conversation with Miss Betts, but she knew it would be okay. She didn’t want to hurt Mr. Lafitte’s feelings, but this class was unbelievable. She knew they’d keep her in the class for the rest of the semester, so another five weeks or so. Then she could drop the class. But she’d have to take finals first. Yikes.

Sage must’ve visibly winced, because Tony asked her what was wrong. Ugh. Wrong. She kind of hated that word. “Nothing.” She gave him a smile that even she thought was genuine. “I just realised that I’m going to have to take a Chemistry exam before I can drop the class. Which, you know. Exams are gross in general, but I might need a lot of help to get through that exam.”

Tony smiled sympathetically, and Loki put a comforting hand on her knee. “Banner will be more than willing to help you darling, and we are always available if there is anything we can do to help.”

She grinned at him gratefully, and took a sip of the bubble tea that Tony had insisted on getting when he saw the little shop on their route to school. “You guys… I just… Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Well we weren’t about to let you suffer with an imbecile like that for an instructor, now were we?” Loki could practically feel the look Tony was giving him, but he didn’t care. As much as Tony was the doer in their relationship, unqualified teachers being paid for torturing children in an attempt to wrongly teach them infuriated him. Knowledge was one of the greatest tools in one’s arsenal. He wasn’t about to let his foster daughter suffer because her instructor didn’t understand how to teach. He would take every step possible to ensure that she was being taught properly, even if they had to hire a tutor.

Sage snickered quietly. “I’m just glad you agree.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	14. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Loki see what they can do to fix Sage's schedule.
> 
> Also a bit of Sage at school!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is coming out a little late in the day, guys!
> 
> Also, my apologies if the first bit of this is really bad. I wrote it when I was half/falling asleep.

If Tony was being honest, he didn’t realise there were schools this small within city limits, and yet here they were.

Loki surveyed the building with an appraising eye. “This place is miniscule.”

Sage rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah. Like I said, only about a hundred fifty people. Also, it’s a little religious. Not obnoxiously so, but you know.”

Tony nodded, pursing his lips. “Well it make things worse for you if we both go in?”

“Anthony…”

“No.” He held up a hand, watching Sage intently. “You’re the more diplomatic of us anyway, Lokes, it’s okay if-”

“Holy shit.”

Sage’s eyes were glued to Loki, who, when Tony turned to look at him, had transformed into a woman. Tony sighed. “You look like Katie McGrath.”

“Oh! I love her!”

Tony rolled his eyes a chuckled, opening the door. “Alright, fine. You two win. Come on, Sage, I don’t want you to be late.”

\---

Sage couldn’t keep her eyes off the clock in math class. She knew Tony and Loki would be talking to the counselor any moment, and truth be told it was kind of stressing her out. Tony had offered to bring her lunch, but she didn’t think she could handle her friends meeting her foster dad today too.

“Hey.”

Sage blinked and turned to see who had just poked her. “Um, hey?” The girl behind her almost never talked to her. This was weird.

The girl grinned at her brightly, looking a bit teasing. “You got a hot date later or what?”

“Huh?”

“You keep looking at the clock like you’re about to jet. I mean, I get it, but you’re usually pretty focused. What’s up?”

“Oh. I- well. My foster parents are meeting with the counselor today. I’m trying to drop Lafitte’s Chem class next semester. I’m really struggling to learn anything from him. At this point, I’m pretty much teaching myself.”

“Yikes.” She winced in sympathy. “My cousin helped me make it through Chem last year. Let me know if they won’t switch with you. I’ll hook you up with his number, okay?”

Sage nodded slowly. “Y-yeah. Sounds great, thanks.”

No problem.” Suddenly, her hand shot up. “Mrs. Meyer?”

“Yes, Grayson? Is there something I can help you with?”

“Could you repeat that last section? I wasn’t really tracking with it.”

Sage shot the girl - no, Grayson - a grateful look, and got a smirk in return. Note to self, she thought, try to make friends with her.

\---

“Mister Stark.”

“Miss Betts.” He gave the counselor the most genuine fake smile he could muster as they shook hands. She didn’t seem to be taken aback by meeting him, so that was one point to her favour at least. He might be able to work with this woman. “Allow me to introduce my… wife Lola.” Tony could already hear the verbal lashing Loki would throw at him for calling him by the name of Coulson’s car, but he wasn’t the damn fool who transformed to a woman. For now, though, Loki smiled politely and also reached across the desk to shake the counselor’s hand.

“Lovely to meet you both.” She smiled kindly and motioned for them to sit while doing so herself. “From what I understand from the email I received, you would like to look at the possibilities of adjusting Sage’s class schedule second semester?”

“Yes. Sage has expressed some concerns to us as to one of your science teacher’s abilities to teach. A Mister… Lafitte, I believe? She has been greatly struggling under his instruction.” Loki offered her a tight smile.

“Alright. Would you mind telling me what Sage’s issues with Danny are while I pull up her grades?”

“The idiot doesn’t know how to teach.” Tony ignored the look of shock on the counselor’s face. “Based on what Sage has been saying, he only teaches to accommodate one type of learning type, which isn’t cool in the first place. Although, apparently even when he teaches to that learning type, he teaches like the students already know the material and this is a refresher course. Now, Sage has told me that you’ve had a bit of a rocky few years with your sciences. What with switching the teachers up every other year and assigning history and math teachers to teach sciences, and I’m willing to not hold that against you, because I hear it’s your second year here. I also hear you’ve got a new principal, and changes in administration are never fun. Believe me, I’ve been the cause for several. New boss means new rules and things have to change, and it’s not easy. Here’s the thing, though.” He leaned closer to the poor woman who, frankly, looked astonished and vaguely alarmed. “Her grades won’t reflect it, but Sage is suffering in that class, and from what I gather, it’s due to a shoddy foundation from this school’s lack of organization and a class teacher who should be a lab teacher. Now,” he leaned back a steepled his fingers in front of his nose, glancing sideways to ensure that Loki didn’t have his disagreeing face on. “I think we can work together to fix this, don’t you? I think that the three of us, working together, a handful of brilliant minds, I’m sure-” he just about lost it as Loki coughed to hide a laugh, “Can find a way to make sure that my daughter is understanding the material being taught, and still get all the necessary credits for this year without majorly rearranging her schedule, don’t you?” He offered her a simpering smile, and reached for Loki’s hand, sending him a silent thanks when he wasn’t rebuffed. “I would hate to have to reschedule that donation we were planning to make at Christmas time.”

“O-of course. L-let’s see. Uhm…” Miss Betts’ eyes darted around her computer screen and she began clicking frantically. “Well, we do offer a Biology 2 course during seventh period. If Sage would be willing to drop her Theatre class-”

“Theatre is one of the few things keeping her sane at the moment. If you cannot devise a way to fix this without making her sacrifice the only class she enjoys this year, we will have major issues.” Loki fixed the woman with a death glare, and she gulped.

“Right. Okay, well… Our other science teacher, Mrs. Buchanan has a free period during sixth. I can talk to her and see if she wouldn’t mind taking on Sage as a Chemistry independent study. And, perhaps if there are… other students with similar concerns, we could… make it a legitimate class.” She smiled nervously at the two sitting in front of her. “How does that sound?”

“Wonderful.” Tony gave her a broad smile. “I knew we could come to an agreement. Lo?”

Loki nodded, looking thoughtful. “I believe that would be acceptable. Thank you for being so accommodating, Miss Betts.” He rose, Tony quickly following suit and turned toward the door.

Tony winked at the counselor, gleefully noting that she still looked rather shaken. “We’ll be in touch.”

“We did it!” Tony practically crowed as they stepped out of the office, barely restraining himself from pumping his fist in the air.

“Like you expected anything else.” Loki smirked as he saw how ecstatic his partner was. “How soon can we inform Sage?”

Tony hummed, considering. “I asked if we could join her for lunch, but she didn’t seem real thrilled with the thought. Should we take her out?”

“Are we allowed?”

The inventor snorted and laced his fingers with Loki’s. “At this point, who cares?” He pulled out his phone to text Sage and let her know that they would be returning at noon to take her out. He smiled at the affirmative response he received, knowing that she really shouldn’t have her phone out during class, but not really caring enough to call her on it. “Where do you want to go?”

“I rather think it should be Sage’s choice, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but you hate Chinese a little bit. You know she’s gonna want Panda Express.”

Loki smiled softly. “I believe I can stomach it this once. She’s earned it.”

Tony grinned. “That’s very true.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	15. Victory Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage, Tony and Loki go out for lunch. Sage ends up sharing a bit about her background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh! There's so many words of this already! I think this is my longest work ever! (Well... Maybe. Anyway.)
> 
> Thank you guys *so much* for sticking with me through this story, the amount of responses I've gotten on this is phenomenal!
> 
> Shoutout to cara_tanaka again for being my most faithful commenter.
> 
> Slight TW in this chapter: There's a slight mention of sexual assault, but it's very momentary.

“No way!”

Sage was enjoying the story of their encounter with her guidance counselor a bit too much, but Tony found he didn’t quite mind. Laughing in disbelief Sage was a far cry from sobbing in frustration Sage, and he found that he much prefered her to be laughing.

“You did not threaten to withhold a donation to get her to change my class schedule. That’s insane. Oh my god, I love you so much.”

Loki smiled softly at the girl. He was proud of how well Anthony had handled their encounter with the guidance counselor personally, and he was extremely pleased that they’d managed to resolve this problem for Sage. “You will still have to take those… finals I believe? But we did manage to work it out so that you would not lose your credits for this course. Be sure to notify those other people in your class that you’d mentioned were also struggling about this. The counselor mentioned that if enough people told her that they were struggling she would make the other teacher’s class a legitimate continuation of the class rather than an independent study that would get you the credit.”

Sage nodded, taking a bite of orange chicken. “Right. I’ll have to tell Riesling and Amelia at the very least. Ugh. Thank you guys again. There’s so much less pressure on this final now that I know that I won’t have to deal with Daniel next semester. Also for lunch. Thanks for lunch.”

Tony waved her off. “Wait, who’s Daniel?”

“Oh.” Sage flushed lightly. “I- okay, so… Mr. Lafitte? His first name is Danny, and like, that’s his full name. The thing is, Riesling and I started calling him Daniel so that we could bitch about him behind his back without a teacher calling us out for complaining about him or calling him by his first name. I do this weird thing where I call teachers by their first names, but only if I’m either really tight with them or I hate-slash-am irritated with them. Like, I love my Spanish teacher, Mrs. Gates, and I would never call her by her first name. But, my history teacher from last year, Mrs. Grady? I call her Pam all the time. It’s… weird. I don’t even know how it works all the time. Don’t ask.”

Tony laughed. “Alrighty then. Hey, how’s that play coming? You’re doing a play, right? For theatre?”

“Ehhhh.” She winced. “We’re doing two one acts, actually. They’re really, really dumb. I hate them a lot, but it’s what we’re doing so.” She rolled her eyes. “I hate having that class with frickin’ Matthew. Little bastard is so damn annoying and all he’s gotta do is breathe.”

Tony snorted. “One of those guys, huh?”

“Well, yeah, but like no. I just- he sorta dated one of my friends last year, and it was a whole big thing, because he tried to budge his way into my friend group, and he tried to start shit with all of us. It really sucked, because I had found these guys halfway through the year before, and at the beginning of the year last year, I was still kind of trying to feel out where I fit in. And, like, I could see what he was doing, you know, separating our one friend from the group. Trying to get under her skin, and splitting the rest of us apart, but no one else could. And I didn’t know if I should say anything or not. Turns out I should have. He…” She stopped and swallowed hard, looking a little lost. “He went to the movies with my friend, and apparently he like… assaulted her.” Her voice got very quiet at that last part. “And we told the school, our whole friend group and a couple other girls. It was a whole fiasco. All they did was suspend him from a couple of days. And then I got suspended once he came back because I fought him.” She looked proud of herself for that fact. “Broke the asshat’s nose in two places and gave him a black eye that lasted for a month.”

“Good for you!” Tony’s eyes were blazing partially with rage and partially with fury. “Should I get that little bastard expelled?”

Sage shook her head. “It’s not worth it at this point, and I hate saying that. He leaves us alone now. If he does anything more, I’ll tell you though.” She smiled slightly. “Honestly? I super appreciate it that you guys get so worked up on behalf of me and my friends. It’s nice to know that I’ve got someone in my corner.”

Loki reached across the table and gently laid his hand on hers. “We will always support you, Sage. And that extends to your friends, if they need our help as well.”

“Thank you. Seriously. I know I’ve said that a lot the past day or so, but I mean it. Oh! On a separate note.” She laughed at herself. “One of my other foster siblings emailed me the other day. He’s gonna be in the area next week, and I was wondering if it would be okay if I hung out with him for a while while he’s here?”

“Of course. As much as I hate to say it, maybe don’t bring him by the tower, but-”

“I get it. I was kind of hoping you would say that, honestly. Wait, that sounds bad. What I mean is, Sam is a huge Thor fan - I know, I know, Loki - so if I brought him by the tower, I don’t actually think he would spend any time with me. Maybe he can meet the team some other time, but I was just kinda hoping you’d be okay with me and him sort of just exploring the city and stuff.”

“I don’t have a problem with it. One thing, though. I’d like to have Happy follow you. I know he’s a little bit of a wet blanket, but he doesn’t have to do stuff with you, I just want to make sure you’re okay. We’ve been trying to keep you mostly under wraps to keep you out of the press, but just in case I want him there to protect you in case someone decides to kidnap you or something, okay?”

“That sounds reasonable. It’s not the worst thing I’ve had to endure in order to hang out with a friend.”

“Oh?” Loki arched an eyebrow at her. “Do tell, darling.”

“Okay, so, a couple years back, I met my best friend in person for the first time. She’s from Kentucky, and I was in Indiana at the time, but she drove up to attend one of my plays, and so we hung out for a while beforehand. Well, my foster parents at that point were super strict, and so the entire time Tami and I were at the mall, the entire family was two steps behind us the whole time. She and I laughed about it, but ugh it was so annoying. I like Happy. I can handle him.” She smiled at them brightly. “It’s probably a smart idea anyway, since my powers aren’t super useful as self-defense or anything.”

“True, true. Well, kiddo, you ready to go back?”

Sage sighed and buried her face in her arms. “Do I have to?”

“Unfortunately. Why do you like that school enough to stay there, out of curiosity?” Loki looked at her questioningly.  
“I love the people there. The teachers kinda suck, and the classes aren’t great, but… My class is like a little family. Complete with assholes who need to shut the hell up all of the time. Also because I’ve been in tiny private schools all my life, and public schools terrify me, honestly. I think I’d get lost in one.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“I get lost in my web browsers, Tony. Yes I would.”

The inventor laughed. “Alright, that’s fair. Shall we?”

Sage shrugged. “I guess.”

\---

“Sage! How’d the class switch go?”

Sage squinted at Clint slightly. “How’d you know I was switching classes?”

“Bruce told me.” The archer shrugged. “He seemed worried for you. Said your teacher was ‘an imbecile’?”

She grinned. “He put it nicely. Um, yeah. Tony and Loki managed to get my counselor to switch me, and Doctor Banner is going to help me with the rest of what I have to do for this class. Seriously, this guy is a pain in my ass. The… teacher, not Doctor Banner.”

“Got that.” Clint smirked. “Chemistry, right? I am glad I dropped out before I got to that class. It’s required for juniors, isn’t it? Why are you taking it?”

“I’m trying to get all my credits in early. My goal is to get to the point where by senior year all my classes will either be dual credit, or those dumb classes that we can only take one of each year and we have to have one of every year.”

“Like?”

“English.”

“Ah. You know, that’s really smart. Shit, kid. You’re adding to the number of geniuses in this tower. Soon us normal people are gonna be overrun.”

“Pretty sure you’re already there.” She sat on the stool in front of the counter space he was occupying. “Hey, is this yours?” She motioned to the glass of water by his thigh.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, good.” She grabbed it and drank the rest, setting it down with a smug grin. “Thanks.”

“Uh-huh.” He looked down at her and smirked. “I’m glad you’re getting comfortable around here, kid. A couple of weeks ago you wouldn’t have even done that to Bruce.”

“I still wouldn’t do that to Bruce, my dude. I like him too much to steal his stuff.”

“Oh gee, thanks. Ya little shit.”

“Yes? Did you call?”

He laughed and dumped the glass onto her lap. “If you’re gonna be sharing my water at least get me some more.”

“Yessir.” She mock saluted and went to refill the glass, handing it to him upon her return. “So, tell me about your day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	16. Supportive Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage helps rescue Bruce from a hovering Thor after a Hulk episode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An early update? What?
> 
> So... Yeah, I'm updating a chapter now in case the bill to end net neutrality passes and I lose all ability to upload. If that happens, I'm really sorry guys.
> 
> Sorry this chapter is so short and that it has literally no plot. I need to reread this whole fic and figure out what all I've actually developed so far and figure out where I'm going. So. If net neutrality doesn't die in the next week, look out for more updates that actually develop the plot!  
> Even if they don't kill the internet on Thursday, I probably won't post this Saturday because of this chapter, and then I'm not sure if I'll post the Saturday after that because I have exams next week and that next Saturday I also am celebrating Christmas with my dad's side of the family. So. Wish me luck on the exams, and do everything you guys can to try and convince the members of the FCC not to kill net neutrality. Thank you so much for reading this, you guys, I love you all soooooo much!

“Hey, Thor, would you mind helping me with something?” Sage turned her best puppy dog eyes one the god of thunder, silently willing him to agree.

“Of course, Sage! What is it?”

“So I’ve got these flashcards with my Spanish vocab words on them, and I was wondering if you’d help me study for my test?”

“I would love to! Though, I must warn you, I am not much one for vocabulary.”

“That’s okay.” She smiled brightly at him. “This’ll be super helpful.”

\---

“I’m glad Sage asked Thor for help. I know the guy loves Bruce, but he could stand to give him some breathing room.” Tony and Loki were stood in the kitchen, observing the scene playing out before them. Yesterday there had been a Doombot attack, and there had been so many of them that they’d been forced to call in Bruce. It had been the first time they’d needed Hulk since Sage had moved in. Tony was ecstatic that when Clint and Natasha had landed the quinjet, Hulk following not far behind, Sage had grinned at him, striding right up to him and plopping herself down to sit in front of him and striking up a conversation as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Tony had been hovering cautiously nearby, ready to jump in if anything went wrong, but really there hadn’t been any cause for concern. Hulk had seemed wary of the girl at first, but gradually, he’d sat down too, mirroring her position. He’d started making the odd agreeing noise or two, seemingly participating in the conversation. Tony had gaped as Hulk had shrunk down to Bruce before his eyes, still talking calmly with Saage, but beginning to shiver and look fatigued. Once all the green had left Bruce’s complexion, Sage had grinned again, gently draping a soft blanket over Bruce’s shoulder and taking him by the hand and leading him inside. She’d made him a mug of tea and left him to watch Discovery Channel with Thor. Thor hadn’t left Bruce’s side since, except for now, due to Sage’s intervention.

Loki hummed in agreement with Tony’s statement, watching them with a slight twinkle in his eye.

“What? That look means you know something I don’t. What is it?”

“Sage cannot learn from flashcards.”

“Okay, so?”

“So, she handed Thor a stack of flashcards. I also know for a fact that her Spanish test was last week.”

“That little minx!” Tony looked back to the three, Bruce leaning against Thor and working on something on a StarkPad while Thor held up the flashcards for Sage. “I’m so proud of her, looking out for Bruce.” Then he stopped and turned to Loki. “How did you know she can’t learn from flashcards?”

“She studies for Spanish in the study with me. She types the words into some website and swears at her laptop when she gets the words wrong. I asked her about it once, and she told me that she types the words out in order to memorize how the words are spelled for the test.”

“Ah. That’s smart.”

“I thought so. She is a Ravenclaw, darling.”

Tony smirked. “I knew you’d like Harry Potter.”

“Do be quiet, Anthony.”

Tony snorted into his coffee cup, singsonging softly, “I was ri-ight.”

“Anthony…” Loki Warned.

Tony cackled.

\---

“Hey, Natasha?”

“Yes, милый?”

“How does Clint make his grilled cheese so damn good?”

“Are you sure you really want to know that?” Natasha arched a perfect brow at her. “You’re picky. You might not want to eat it anymore.”

Sage rolled her eyes. “Come on. Pleeeeeease? You’ll be my favourite personnnnn.”

“I couldn’t care less.”

“I know, that’s why it’s fun.”

Natasha snorted. “Okay, fine. You really wanna know?”

Sage nodded frantically.

“Mayonnaise.”

“Hold up. Come again? Mayonnaise?!”

“Yep. Instead of butter. Gross, huh?”

“Super gross. But… it tastes so good!”

“Exactly.”

“Ugh.” She laid her head on Natasha’s shoulder. “When’s he on rotation again?”

The spy laughed. “Tuesday. Why, you want grilled cheese now?”

“... Maybe.”

“You’re ridiculous. I want to watch something. What are you in the mood for?”

Sage shrugged. “Um, some obscure eighties tv show that no one from my generation knows?”

“So… Greatest American Hero is what I’m hearing.”

“Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	17. Contemplation and Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint thinks back over some conversations he's had with Sage, and banters with Pietro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooooooo sorry about how long it's been, guys. I would say things have been hectic, and I haven't had time to write, but the truth is I just haven't felt very motivated, but I'm back now and we should be updating once a week again.
> 
> This chapter looks a tiny bit at developing Clint and Sage's relationship, and just giving a glimpse of that Clint-Pietro banter that we all loved in AoU. Also, I'm sorry, but I'm in love with Pietro overusing air quotes. It's my new favourite thing.
> 
> Also, I haven't actually seen Coco yet. Did any of you all see it? Did you like it? Thoughts? Reviews?

“Sammy!!”

Pietro and Clint’s heads snapped up at Sage’s squeal. They saw she was on the phone, and Pietro relaxed, but Clint stayed on high alert. He watched her talk to the person on the other end of the line, hands moving animatedly, and her face lighting up with joy. He couldn’t help but be cautious. Tony had said Sage was going to be going out with this kid that she knew from one of her other foster families in a few days, and it stood to reason that said kid was the one on the phone. Clint had heard some stories about Sage’s old foster families, though. Some of them had been pretty conservative from what he’d gathered, and not all of them were exactly supportive of every aspect of Sage. Of course, that had led to a sexuality discussion, will Clint stressing that everyone in the tower was completely supportive of any sexuality or gender identity anyone had. He thought that all went without saying, but it never hurt to affirm any would-be suspicions or get rid of any doubts. He’d discovered that Sage was pansexual, and told her that he himself was bi. He hadn’t given her the complete compendium of sexualities and whatnot of everyone in the tower, because it wasn’t his place, but he had asked if she’d told Tony and Loki.

When he asked, she’d smiled at him softly and shook her head. She said that the two of them had made sure to tell her immediately right off the bat that they would never care how she identified, only that if it ever effected what pronouns they should use, that they would love to be notified. She said that she kept intending to tell them, but it had never come up in a conversation, and eventually it stopped mattering so much to her that they know the exact details of her sexuality. She’d told him that there were some people that she would tell immediately, right off the bat, just to see if it would scare them away, and some people were curious, so she would gladly tell anyone who asked. But it had become a habit of hers, she’d noticed that she never really came out to any set of parents she’d had. She either had to keep her sexuality under wraps in order to stay in the house, or she’d get caught making out with a girl in her bedroom, and she’d recieve a thumbs up. She grinned a little at that, smirking at Clint and expressing the thought that Tony would definitely be the “thumbs up type”.

He hadn’t heard much about this Sam guy, though. He supposed that if Sage was comfortable talking to him on the phone, then they must be close, but he didn’t know how close. He was mildly concerned, wondering if he should be cautious, watching to make sure that he didn’t hurt their girl. It nearly surprised him, how chummy he and Sage had gotten in the few months she’d lived in the tower. But, every time he had that thought, he’d glance over at Sage, and she’d catch his eye, either giving him a thumbs up, or throwing him a wink, or pulling some goofy face, making him grin every time and remember just why this girl was so damn endearing.

Pietro nudged him in the ribs with an elbow, smirking when Clint startled out of his thoughts. “Quit staring at her, old man. It’s creepy.”

Clint glared at Pietro. “I’m not staring at her.”

“You totally were.”

“I- Okay, I might have been staring, but it wasn’t at her. Intentionally. I was just thinking… How much have you heard about this Sam guy that she’s going to be hanging out with?”

Pietro shrugged. “Not much. They were foster siblings at one point, and Sage said that they got really close. Something about how she was pan and he was gay, but their foster parents were very ‘conservative Christian’ and ‘a real don’t ask, don’t tell type couple’.”

Clint snorted at the finger quotes Pietro helpfully supplied. “I guess that makes sense. I’ve been there. Banding together with the only other queer kid nearby because you feel like the only one sometimes.” He side eyed Pietro, who had turned his attention back to the show they were watching. Some random cop show. Law and Order, if he had to guess. “When did you two have this conversation?”

The younger man thought about it for a few moments. “I’m not sure. I just remember her telling me. It might have been when Wanda and I took her to the movies. She wanted to see Coco, so we all went.”

“Hold on. You did what?”

Sage arched an eyebrow at the two from the kitchen. “Everything alright in there?”

Clint scowled at Pietro’s raised eyebrows, but raised his voice just enough to reassure her, “Yeah, we’re good. Fine. Great. Everything’s just peachy.”

“Mhmm.” Sage rolled her eyes, but turned back to her conversation, resolving to bother Clint about that later.

“We took her to the movies. It wasn’t a big deal. We asked Tony.”

“He let you take her to the movies?”

“Colonel Rhodes went with us. You know, a week ago when he was on leave for Thanksgiving? We asked Tony, and he said that as long as we had an ‘adult’ with us-” again, with the finger quotes- “That he was fine with it. Colonel Rhodes was listening, and said that he had been looking for a reason to go with ‘young people so he wouldn’t be a creepy old man in the back’. So we took him and had fun. He took us out for frozen yogurt afterward.”

Clint nodded. Seemed like a legit thing. As long as Rhodey had been gone, there was probably no need to freak out. Of all the people in the tower, Rhodey was certainly one of the most responsible. But, “Kid, I’m glad you know how to use air quotes now, but you gotta tone it down a bit, okay? This is better than the whole Joey situation that you had going on, but four times in one conversation is excessive.”

Pietro took the advice, his eyebrows furrowed, as if concentrating hard, but he nodded slightly. “Why is that too many times?” He asked, looking up at Clint questioningly.

“Well, it’s.... I-” The archer stopped, looking genuinely baffled. “You know what, I’m not actually sure why. I just know it’s too much.”

Pietro nodded again, still looking confused, but brushing it off well. “American English is confusing.”

“Yes, my young speedy friend, yes it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	18. Problematic Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's worried about Sage going out of the tower without him. Sage and Sam have a good talk. Some things are found out that may have detrimental affects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's a little late, I had to finish it after getting back from Chicago tonight. This is a pretty dense chapter, and it's a little plot/content heavy. I like it, so I really hope that you guys do. Let me know what you think.
> 
> Trigger warning for panic attacks in this chapter. Sage doesn't have a full blown panic attack, but she shows signs of the beginnings of one and Sam has to calm her down. If this isn't something you wish to read, skip the paragraph beginning with "Not a chance in hell.” She glared the boy down." and possibly the one after it.

Tony watched on a projection in the lab as Sage greeted her former foster brother in front of the tower with a hug. She told him that she’d suggested meeting by the tower, using it as a landmark. Something told him, though, that she knew he’d pull up the CCTV footage and check on her from time to time as she waited outside.

The boy looked normal enough, if a few years older than Sage. He had caramel coloured hair curling past his shoulders, and a dark, alternative-type style to counter Sage’s own soft, neutral palette. His wide grin, however, nearly outmatched the one stretching across her face.

They embraced for several seconds, and then parted enough to speak at a comfortable distance before Sage looped her arm through his and they started down the street.

“She won’t return any sooner if you continue to stare at that screen, my love.”

Tony turned around and smiled softly at the sight of Loki nestled into the corner of his lab couch, book in hand and surrounded by Tony’s bots. The visual was reminiscent of they time Sage would spend down here after school, and his heart fluttered in his chest at the reminder of his own family that he’d brought together. “I know, I know. I’m just paranoid.” He blew out a heavy breath and closed the feed. “Happy will let me know if anything goes wrong. They won’t be back for hours anyway.” He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “I can’t do anything productive like this. Can’t sit still. Spar with me?”

Loki looked up and his grin grew feral. “Gladly.”

\---

“So, I”ve taken you to brunch. Has is been long enough for me to ask about your new foster family yet?”

Sage laughed, her eyes bright. SHe and Sam had been in Francesco’s for a good hour and a half, eating and catching up. She was surprised that he’d lasted for this long without asking. “Yeah, go ahead.” She rplied, eyes darting over to where Happy was sipping coffee in the corner of the cafe. She wondered how long it would take Sam to notice him.

“So, what are they like? Rich, poor, liberal, conservative, democrat, republican? Come on, you’ve gotta give me something!”

“Okay, okay, okay okay. Um. Well first of all,” she smirked at his eye roll but continued, “You know it’s two guys this time, right?”

“I think so? You tweeted about it or something. I’ve got all your post notifications on, but you have been tragically sparse in the details department. I know you’ve got tea, so spill it.”

She laughed again. “Right. Okay, so my foster dads, Tony and Lo...ki….?” She paused, wondering if Sam would recognise the name of Thor’s younger brother, but he didn’t seem to have put the pieces together yet. “They’re super chill, I love them a lot. They actually like went to Lakewood and made sure that I got to switch my second semester class schedule so that I don’t have to take Chem next semester, but I don’t lose the science credit either, so that was super nice. I was soooo thankful. I told you how bad that was.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Wanted to punch that dickwad of a teacher in the throat.”

“You and Bruce both. Uh.” She stuttered suddenly at his questioning look. “Bruce is one of Tony’s friends. He hangs around the house a lot. They actually have a whole bunch of friends. We get great games of Dutch Blitz going.” She added, eyes twinkling.

Sam groaned. “Ugh, now I see why you’re ditching me for your new family. It’s because they’ll play that damn game with you. I told you, my mind just doesn’t recognise things fast enough for me to play with you when you feel even remotely competitive. I can’t keep up.”

“I know. I don’t blame you for that. I wish you could keep up, but I get it.” She laid a hand over his and smiled softly at him. “I still love you anyway.”

He smirked. “Enough to tell me more about your foster family?”

She giggled and shoved his hand away. “I was going to tell you anyway, but now….”

“Sage Colette Ahlers! I haven’t seen you in nine months. The last time we got together you were still living with Paul and Cindy.” His face screwed up as he mentioned the names, like he’d tasted something bitter.

“At least Paul and Cindy let me go out with you, offensive as they were. Your parents barely let me set foot outside the house because god forbid I find someone attractive and they weren’t cis.”

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. That’s fair. Seriously though. You’re holding out on me. What’s the deal here? Usually you tell me everything and post your whole life online. Spill. No. Wait.” He narrowed his eyes at her and grabbed  
both of her forearms, pulling on them so that she was forced to lean closer to him as he leered at her across the table. His eyes darted all over her face, scrutinizing before he let her go and slowly leaned back against the booth they were seated in. “You’re not telling me things on purpose. Because there’s things you can’t tell me. You don’t know how much you’re allowed to tell me. You haven’t mentioned a single last name associated with the family you’re being fostered by yet and you’ve mentioned three people already. Tony, Loki, and Bruce. Your eyes lit up more than they have been when you mentioned Bruce, and you cannot seriously expect me to have forgotten about your ridiculous nerd crush on The Doctor Bruce Banner that you’ve been harbouring for years. You couldn’t fake that excitement. And if you’re going to Bruce Banner for help on chemistry homework, which holy shit, congrats, then that means that you’re being fostered by Tony Stark. Now that, in itself, hot fuck. That’s insane. Like that is ridiculously cool, but you also said Loki. Now, hook up with me if I’m wrong, but several years ago, Thor Odinson’s moody little brother tried to take over the world through New York. If I’ve done my mythology research, which you best fuckin’ believe I have, Thor Odinson’s moody little brother’s name is Loki. You’re being fostered by Thor’s moody little brother. Holy shitfuck. Mother of fucking damn holy shit god fuck. You probably know Thor!” He gasped, hands actually drifting up to cover his mouth. “That’s why you met me in front of Stark tower!”

Sage groaned and buried her face in her arms. “Goddamnit, Sammy. You weren’t supposed to find out! Fuck! Why do I make such smart friends?!” She peeked over at Happy, who looked a bit alarmed, but thankfully Sam’s freakout had been fairly quiet, and the cafe was rather empty. No one had heard anything. They were fine. Except for-

“You HAVE to introduce me to Thor.”

\- That.

“Not a chance in hell.” She glared the boy down. “I’m finally settling in with these guys. You will not blow my chances at finally finding a place where I belong with people who accept me by storming in and fawning over Thor and shattering their trust of me. I- look, muffin.” She begrudgingly tried to soften her tone, backing off to one of their more familiar nickname sets. “I’m sorry. That was harsh. I didn’t mean that. I just-” She turned pleading eyes on him. “The only family that I’ve clicked with like this, ever, was the Wilimans. I couldn’t have a life with them, but that wasn’t any of our faults. I want this, Sam. I want to be a family with them so badly. I know I always want it, but… you don’t get it. With the team, I don’t need to fit some… pre specified mold that I don’t know the parameters of. They weren’t expecting anything when they got me, but… They got me. And they’ve excepted me. And I’ve got… people to play Dutch Blitz with.” She looked down to her wringing hands as tears started to gather in her eyes. “I’ve never had a whole family unit support me like this before. I know I’ve had you, and I’ve had Tami, and yeah, I’ve never been without some semblance of a support group, but this is different you know? I know you’ve never had anything like this either, because I’ve met your parents bud. Fresh out of unconditional love and acceptance there. I just… I need to know that I won’t wake up some day and have this all be fake before I let you meet them, okay? Because you meeting them would make it… It would make it feel permanent. And I want that, but I still can’t shake the feeling that really soon I’m going to say something, or make the wrong move, or fuck something up so badly that they kick me out. And I know that if I let you meet them, you’ll get attached and it will be hard for you when I’ve got to leave too. So just… Can we have a nice day today, if I promise I’ll introduce you to everyone next time we get together? I know I’ve been with them for months already, but I-”

“Sweetheart, you need to calm the hell down.” He laid a gentle hand over her fidgety ones, and a gentle finger on her chin lifted her eyes to meet his. “You aren’t hurting my feelings. I’m sorry that I got all worked up. I was… excited, yeah, but I didn’t think about the fact that this is still pretty new for you too. I don’t need to meet your new family either this time, or the next time, or even the one after that. I’m not here for your new family. I’m here to see you. I would love to spend the day with you. We can go troll a thrift shop for a few hours and then go for ice cream. I’ll even walk you back to the tower if you like. If Tony Stark’s head of security wouldn’t mind.” He winked suggestively at Happy over his shoulder, and Sage giggled when the older man flushed dark red. “You obviously need someone to talk to who’s removed from your family but knows the details and stuff, so tell me as you’re ready. You don’t have to spill any major tea today, whether yours or someone else’s, but- hey, hey.” He caught her gaze before she tried to look down and away. Sam knew that Sage wasn’t always comfortable with extended eye contact, but this was a point that he knew he needed to drive home. “I am and always will be your big brother, okay? I got an apartment in the neighborhood as soon as you told me whereabouts you were moving. So, if you ever need a place to crash or just destress, I’m a text away. I’m not your therapist-” a pointed look and an answering guilty, downward glance told him what he’d been suspecting- “But I can act as a sounding board for you when you need to process things. Now.” He retracted the hand still in the vincinity of her face, and moved it to hold her hands instead, because Sage’s love language was physical touch, no matter what she said. “Tell me about the nerdgasm that was you meeting Doctor Bruce Banner, if you’re not going to dispell some of your anxiety with retail therapy right away.”

She threw him a smile, eyes a little damp, but began recounting the story of her first night in the tower.

\---

“Sir, there is an incoming communication from Mister Hogan.”

Tony and Loki paused in their sparring, both sweaty and panting, and the inventor had to quell the instantaneous flare of panic in his chest. “Yeah, go ahead, J.”

“Hey, Tony?”

“Yeah, Happy, what’s up? Something wrong? Is Sage okay?”

“You’re daughter’s fine, Tony… I think. Um. The kid she’s meeting with figured out who you guys are. I don’t know if that’s a problem or not. That’s up to you. He seems alright to me. I’m sure Pepper ran a background check on him. Anyway, that’s not why I called.”

“Okay, what is it Happy, we were kind of busy.”

“Well, was listening into their conversation for a while, and I was somewhat concerned with some of the things Sage said. They weren’t exactly… but, I just… I want that girl to be happy, Tony. I want her to feel like she belongs with you guys and to realise how much you guys love her, and-”

“Yeah, I want all that too, Happy, what’s your point?”

“Uh, JARVIS, you’ve been recording their whole conversation, right?”

“Yes, Mister Hogan.”

“Could you just… play the section from Samuel figuring out Tony and Loki’s identities to when he suggested ‘retail therapy’?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Wait, Happy, I don’t-”

“Just… listen to what she’s saying Tony. They’re getting ready to go to the thrift shops, but pay attention to your girl. Don’t let her eat herself into a hole of worry. I’ve got to go.”

Tony stood, frozen, staring at the recording pulled up on the screen from what looked to be the camera in the new phone he’d gotten for Sage. Apparently JARVIS monitored her conversations now. He needed to do some coding work. First though, apparently he needed to eavesdrop on a conversation between his foster daughter and her previous foster brother.

“Anthony, I don’t know that we should intrude like this.”

“It’ll be okay, Lokes.”

“If Sage knows you breached her privacy, do you have any idea how long it will take for her to trust you again?”

That just about stopped Tony’s heart in his chest. “Loki, I-” he spun around to face the immortal, and bit his lip. “Happy’s worried about her. He wanted me to listen to it. I can’t let my baby girl suffer, Lo’.” He sighed. “We’ll listen to it, and see what we can do about it, and then we’ll delete it and I’ll rewrite some of JARVIS’s code so that he doesn’t do this anymore, okay?”

The god nodded slightly, the set of his jaw begrudging. “Fine. But do not come to me when this blows up in your face.” He dropped into a lotus pose on the sparring mat, looking unhappy, but unwilling to leave.

Tony swallowed around the lump in his throat and began the video.

“‘Sage Colette Ahlers! I haven’t seen you in nine months. The last time we got together you were still living with Paul and Cindy.’...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	19. Steps Toward Soothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage and Sam go shopping and have some more heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, updating on a Saturday like I'm supposed to. Truth is, I've been on a creative streak the likes of which hasn't happened for quite a while, so at the moment, I've got several chapters stored up, and I'm trying to crank out more while I'm still inspired.
> 
> Trigger Warnings for this chapter: Tony has a panic attack at the beginning of the chapter, so if you're averse to that, skip to the first scene divider. (psst, it looks like this: --- )

Tony stood, frozen in shock for several minutes after the recording ended, processing what he’d just heard. Sage was terrified that she would do something and they would kick her out. She genuinely thought that if she did something wrong it would drive them to changing her mind about her and- he needed to go. He needed to find every other family that ever fostered his beautiful girl and make them realise how wonderful she was and that if they thought that they could treat her like that-

“Anthony!”

Loki’s sharp bark of his name broke him out of his daze, and he froze again as he realised that he’d summoned the armor on sentry mode. Fuck. Fucking shit. This was bad. This was so bad, he had been ready to-

“Anthony. My love, it’s alright.”

His name was softer this time, and in the back of his mind, he registered Loki slowly rising to his feet, ignorant of the Iron Man armor and making his way to his side, hands outstreched, but not touching. Not yet. Not until he had assessed the damaged that had been done.

Fuck.

This is why Loki hadn’t wanted a child, it suddenly dawned on Tony. Because the god had recognised what Tony couldn’t in his baby frenzy. He wasn’t mentally or emotionally stable enough to care for himself, much less a child. How was he supposed to be able to help Sage if the thought of her past foster families not treating her right had reduced him to an irrational, seething, raging psychopath? What would he have done? He wasn’t safe to be around, he-

“Anthony, hush. You are perfectly safe, you wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Part of him noted that he was shaking, and that he must have been voicing his thoughts aloud, but the louder part of his brain was shouting that Loki still hadn’t touched him, so obviously the god thought he was dangerous too, and he was right. He shouldn’t be around Sage, he’d just hurt her, oh god is this how Bruce felt when the Hulk took over, because now he totally understood why Bruce was so scared of the Other Guy, and he would never tease his friend about that again and-

Loki’s hand rested gently on his forearm, grounding him. Giving him a point of contact to focus on. Keeping him in the present. His voice was murmuring softly to him, sweet nothings and gentle reassurances, repeating his name over and over, because his god who had tried to conquer New York could be gentle and sweet, but he was too fucked up to find a peaceful way to deal with his daughter’s former “families”, but no of course, that was totally fine, because-

“If you keep saying things in that vein of thought, I will personally lay you out on this sparring mat over and over until you cannot move and you have to listen to me explain very carefully to you in excruciating detail how entirely wrong you are, dear. I love you very much. Sage adores you nearly as much as I. You are not this cruel, capricious creature that you believe you’ve turned into, you are a kind, loving man who would put his daughter before the world if it meant making her happy.”

By now, Loki’s arms were around his waist, and his chest was pressed to Tony’s back, his warm breath ghosting over Tony’s cheek as he spoke softly in his ear. Tony was still regaining his footing after that, but it would never cease to amaze him how wonderful Loki was. He was caring, and soft, and deliberate in how he helped Tony to calm down, but in the whole time that they’d been together, he had not once stepped away or said that he could not help or ever questioned whether or not he was needed when Tony was like this. Pepper and Rhodey said that he needed to say what ‘this’ was if he was ever going to get anywhere, but it wasn’t like he didn’t already know.  
He suffered from panic attacks. Debilitating ones, and apparently, hearing Sage nearly have a panic attack about her foster brother meeting the team and becoming angry over how poorly she had been treated in her lifetime was enough to trigger one. Good to know, he supposed.

“Fuck. I- I’m sorry.”

Loki let out a sigh and rested his head against Tony’s exposed collar bone. “Darling, there is absolutely no reason to apologise. I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again and again until there’s no need for you to hear it any more. Never apologise for what you cannot control. I love you, and our partnership entails me supporting you. If it takes me calming you down for twenty minutes or even an hour, I’ll gladly do it, if only to see that you are alright again by the end of it.” He laced his fingers through Tony’s, and brought their clasped hands to his lips, pressing soft kisses to each of his lover’s knuckles. “Come, I will draw you a bath so that you have no need for dealing with the shower, and then I shall join you and we will view episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race until Sage returns home. If you wish to discuss the footage from JARVIS we will, but not around Sage, and not until you are perfectly calm once more. Agreed?”

Tony nodded miserably, turning around and wrapping his arms around Loki’s waist, burying his face in the crook of his neck. “I still want to apologise.” He mumbled into the skin just above Loki’s clavicle. He knows full well that the god was able to hear him, but he pulled away and Loki did not so much as mention the small sentence. They both knew vividly the lasting affects of childhood emotional abuse. The god would never fault him for his inherent need to apologise, to fix everything he supposedly did wrong. It was a defense mechanism, and they both recognised that.

Loki took Tony’s hand and led him upstairs, mind already churning out ideas for ways to reassure Sage that she would always be welcome with them, no matter what.

\---

Sage and Sam spent several hours Ubering from thrift shop to thrift shop, strolling through the stores, putting on mini fashion shows for each other, just having fun. Sage bought at least one thing for each of them at each store, sometimes several things each, despite Sam’s protests.

“Sage. You’ve already bought me two pairs of jeans, four t-shirts, and a pair of boots. You cannot get me that.”

The younger girl pulled her best puppy dog eyes and pouted up at him. “But it’s a leather jacket. I don’t do leather jackets, you do. You can’t pass up an opportunity like this, Sammy!” She draped it over his shoulders, manipulating his long arms into the sleeves of the jacket and turning him to face a mirror as he sighed heavily. “Look! All you need is a wallet chain and eyeliner and you’re the punk rocker of any emo boy’s wet dreams.”

“Sage!” He practically squealed, scrabbling to cover her mouth and look around frantically to ensure that no one had overheard. “You can’t say shit like that, you dummy.”

“Why not? Do you have a boyfriend?” She gave him a smug sort of stink eye, crossing her arms in front of her and looking as imposing as was possible for a girl who barely cleared five foot.

“No. Neither do you.”

“Well yeah, but I’m not actively searching for one.” She threw him a knowing look and turned back to perusing the clothing racks behind him. “Let me buy you the jacket, muffin. It suits you. Besides, you paid at brunch. I have ample funds for this. And yes,” she cut off his inquiry before he staged it, “It is my money. I worked concessions at almost every sports game last year to stay out of the house. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

He let out a begrudging sigh and turned back to the mirror, aprreciating the view for a moment. “Fine. But this is the last thing.”

“Sure, Jan.” She pulled a sweater off the rack and held it up against her torso, turning to face the mirror as well. “How do we feel about turtlenecks? For me, not you.” She added quickly with a laugh. “Too much double chin?”

Sam laughed and shook his head.

\---

When they got back to the tower, despite their arms being laden with bags full of clothes, Sage grabbed Sam and pulled him into the tightest hug she’d allowed herself to give in a while. “Don’t leave me hanging if I call, alright? You know how much I hate that.”

“Calling me or me not picking up?” He asked jokingly, pulling back enough to look her in the eyes. He chuckled softly, and then moved in for another hug. “I’d never,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t be a stranger, okay? I’ll text you my new address. It’s a good neighborhood, I made sure of that before I signed the lease. Wanted you to be able to visit.”

She bit her lip and closed her eyes against threatening tears, resisting the urge to bury her face in the crook of his neck. “Thanks, Sammy. I’ll be sure to drop by.” She pulled back completely, breaking their contact and smiled at him, eyes a bit watery. “Text me or something, okay? I should go so that Tony doesn’t freak out, but… let’s make this a thing, yeah?”

“What, getting together for brunch and then thrift shopping for five hours?” He grinned as she laughed at his semi-skeptical tone.

“Yes. Definitely. Every weekend. I- I’m serious, though. I can’t go for that long without seeing you again. I miss my best friend.”

He scoffed. “I’m not your best friend. Tami is. And you’ve got all kinds of friends at school.”

“They’re not my friends. They don’t get me. I’m not even remotely out to them, they don’t count.” The fierce look in her eyes told him that she was serious.

“You stop it. They most certainly are your friends, I’ve seen your instagram. They’re at the very least fracquaintances.”

“Come again?”

“Friendly acquaintances. This isn’t the point. What were we talking about?”

Sage laughed lightly and shook her head, easily recognising his old tatic of distracting her from self-deprication. “Yeah, yeah. Alright. I’ve gotta go.”

“Of course. Be good.”

“I always am.”

“That’s a filthy lie and we both know it.” He smiled and stepped off the curb to Uber that he’d made wait for him while they said goodbye. “Seeya, babe. Mister Security.” He gave Happy a mock salute and got into the car, Sage watching as it drove away and she gradually lost it in the hubbub of New York traffic.

“Well, we had a good day, didn’t we, Happy?”

The older man walked over to join her on the sidewalk, small smile on his face. “It was certainly a day.”

She snorted. “Alright, welp. Let’s go see how everyone else is doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	20. Reassurance Calms the Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage comes back to the aftermath of Tony's panic attack, and she and Loki have a fashion show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I hate myself.
> 
> I totally meant to post this yesterday, but I was at a friend's until nine, and when I got home my brother was over, so I didn't have access to my laptop, and it was a mess. Here it is though! Sorry! Personally, I like this chapter, but let me know what you think!

Sage and Happy parted ways in the elevator when he got off to check on some security stuff and she continued up to the Penthouse. Things were quiet when she got up there, which she found just a bit odd. Loki was sitting on one of the couches, staring out of the windows, looking lost in thought.

“Hey, I’m home!” She said, a bit louder than necessary, trying to snap Loki out of it without startling him too badly.

The god looked up at the sound of her voice, smile stretching across his lips as he took in the happiness shining on her face and the bags filling her arms. “I take it you had fun this afternoon?”

She nodded and lumped the bags on the kitchen island before jogging over to join Loki on the couch, nestling into his side. She knew he wasn’t quite as tactile as Tony was, but she was already missing Sam and she’d take comfort where she could get it. Or steal it, as the case may be. She half expected him to reprimand her for not taking her purchases into her room right away, and was a little confused when he didn’t. Loki was a stickler for neatness everywhere he appeared, a direct contrast to Tony’s habits of leaving everything where it fell. Speaking of the genius… “Where’s Tony?”

“Ah.” Loki looked vaguely troubled as he moved to accommodate Sage, lifting his arm and wrapping it around her shoulders. His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes got a sort of far away look. “He is sleeping in our room. Something happened earlier and he had a panic attack. Nothing major, but he was rather exhausted.”

“Holy crap! Is he okay?!” She bolted upright, looking worriedly in the direction of their bedroom, suddenly concerned.

“He is perfectly alright, Sage, He is simply tired.” Loki soothed, running a gentle hand over her hair and coaxing her back against his side.

She looked up at Loki’s face, eyes suddenly scrutinizing. “What about you?” She asked quietly, noting how tired the god himself looked. “Are you okay?”

He chuckled softly, returning her concerned gaze with one of vague amusement. “I must admit, it is always jarring when Anthony has one of these attacks. I can usually calm him down, but often enough the source of his attacks causes concerns to rise in me as well. I am alright, though. Thank you for asking. I simply wish there was more I could do to help him avoid this. They have gotten better, since you’ve moved in. Likely because he’s spent less time working himself to exhaustion in his lab. He loves you Sage. He wants to be an amazing parent for you, and he’s been taking care of himself more, so I suppose I should thank you for that.” His eyes sparkled with pleasure, and he smiled at her, more soft and relaxed than he usually allowed himself to be, knowing full well that the girl recognised that fact.

She shrugged, not quite knowing what to do with this raw, honest Loki. She was used to him being… not cold, but more distant than much of the team. Understandably, due to his past, and yet she didn’t mind this side of him one bit. “Well, I’m certainly glad he’s taking better care of himself. He’s doing an amazing job of being a dad, you should tell him that.”

“Oh, I do. Frequently. Although, I expect he would enjoy hearing it from you.”

She giggled. “Yeah, probably.”

“So, what sorts of things did you purchase?”

Her eyes lit up, and she sat up a bit. “Do you want me do show you? We could do a little fashion show!”

He laughed. “Oh no, we couldn’t without everyone else. They would hate to miss out.”

She scoffed and waved him off. “We’ll tape it for them. You can do that, right JARVIS?”

“Indeed, Miss Ahlers.”

She smiled smugly and turned back to Loki. “Fashion show?”

He sighed, as if put upon, but agreed, “Alright, darling, if it makes you happy-”

“Yay!” She squealed, pressing a kiss to his cheek and jumping up, grabbing her bags from the island and heading toward the bathroom. “I’ll be right back!”

\---

Tony woke to the sound of Sage giggling, indie music playing over JARVIS’s speakers and, softer, Loki chuckling. He slowly got out of bed, pausing to pull on a pair of sweat pants and an old MIT hoodie before venturing out of the room. As he made his sluggish way into the room, he was greeted by the sight of Sage pulling all sort of ridiculous poses to the beat of the music in an outfit he was sure he’d never seen her wear before, unable to keep a straight face and laughing all the while. Loki was seated on the couch, watching her and unable to stifle his own laughter at her antics. “Well well well, what’s this? Am I missing a fashion show?”

Sage’s face brightened even more at the sight of him. “Tony!” She cried, rushing over to him and catching him in a quick hug before darting back to stand midway between him and Loki. “Sam and I went thrift shopping, so yeah, we were doing a fashion show. It’s okay though! You didn’t miss anything, JARVIS is filming it.”

“He is, is he?”

“Indeed, Sir.”

“Well by all means, continue. I would hate to ruin a fashion show.”

Sage grinned widely at him. “I was going to put on a new outfit anyway. Go and sit by Loki. I’ll be back in a sec.”

Tony wandered over, feeling slightly aimless and a little foggy after his nap. He sunk onto the couch beside Loki and curled into him, burying his nose in the other man’s shoulder. “She’s so happy. You’d never guess that-”

“Hush, love.” Loki pressed a kiss to the top of Tony’s head, refusing to let the inventor get worked up again. “Our girl is doing wonderfully with this… fashion show.” He shook his head, letting amusement color his tone. “Let’s not worry about other things right now.’

“Yeah, okay.” Tony yawned and cuddled further into Loki’s side. “‘M still tired.”

“You can go back to bed, darling. We’ll show you the whole thing later. Sage will understand.”

“Mmm. No. No, I wanna stay. Don’t wanna sleep anymore. No point if you’re not gonna sleep with me.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“You love me.”

“Indeed I do.” Loki bent down for a kiss, looking up with mirth in his eyes when Sage awkwardly cleared her throat. “Ah, a new outfit.”

She giggled, biting back on the inappropriate PDA joke she was going to make. This was neither the time nor the place. Tony still looked ridiculously exhausted. She felt terrible. She wanted to see him smile. “Right. So, this sweater is vintage J. Crew, and-”

“Hey, now. Some of us take offense to that vintage nonsense.” Tony teased, his eyes sparking with mischief.

“Tony, people can’t be vintage. So it doesn’t apply to you even if you are old as dirt.” Immediately she regretted the comment, feeling mean for taking the low blow when he wasn’t at his best, but Tony laughed and shot back with fire.

“At least I can drive myself places. Remind me, Sage, are you capable of that?”

Her ears burned, but she laughed. Okay, that was actually fair and kind of funny. “Anyway, my jeans are Tommy Hilfiger, and I got them for six dollars, be proud of me.”

“Holy shit.” Tony whistled. “That is a steal. Where did you go?”

She shrugged. “A bunch of different thrift stores. I don’t remember which one these came from, but I saw them and at that price I had to have them.”

“Obviously. Damn, kid, you know how to pick an outfit.”

Sage smiled happily. “Why thank you. I try very hard.” He was okay, she thought, just a little worn down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	21. A Lesson in Communicating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a few failed tries, Tony and Loki manage to have a conversation with Sage about that problematic conversation from a few chapters ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting on the right day today! And it's not two in the morning! I'm getting my act together, guys.
> 
> Alright, I need opinions. First order of business, I'm considering bringing Peggy into this, (in a rather lowkey way, but still.) what do you guys think? Yes, no, maybe so? Also, I'm thinking I may start updating on Wednesdays in addition to my Saturday updates. What's the general consensus on that? Should I do it?
> 
> Also, there's a little bit of really important development in this chapter. Let me know if you spot it, and how you feel about it!

“Sage,” Loki called, as she put the last of her new outfits in the laundry.

“Yeah?” She popped her head out her door, a bit startled to see Loki almost right outside. “Is something up?”

“Well, no. It is simply… I wanted to express how much… How much we- Well, that is to say, ehm.”

Sage was, to say the least, a little taken aback. She’d never once seen Loki this lost for words. “Papa, is something wrong?”

Loki’s breath caught at that word. Papa. She’d started calling him that once or twice, usually when she was very confused or unsure, and he was caught unawares every time. He loved it. It made him think that she was finally becoming comfortable with them, letting her guard down completely. Clearly, though, after hearing that recording, he was wrong. The thought made him sick to his stomach. “No, love, it’s nothing.” He smiled at her, tears forming in his eyes and he hurriedly stalked back toward the kitchen, muttering something about hot sauce.

Weird, Sage thought, Loki didn’t eat hot sauce.

\---

Their next attempt at casually bringing up the recording barely went better than the first.

“Hey.” Tony caught Sage in the kitchen, a half eaten sandwich hanging from her mouth, a bag of tortilla chips and a large bowl of queso in her hands. He surveyed her with laughter in his eyes, a smirk playing across his face. “Is there a movie marathon going on that I wasn’t invited to?”

Sage flushed slightly. “Nmu-” she set down the bag of chips and extracted the sandwich from her mouth. “Not really. Was just gonna watch some NCIS and I was hungry, so…”

He laughed. “Alright, that’s fair. Anything good happening?”

“Oh, you know. Bio threats, terrorism, Sasha Alesander… God, I love her.” She sighed dreamily, a fake far away look in her eyes.

“You’re ridiculous.” Tony couldn’t help but chuckle, patting her on the arm as he passed her to get to the fridge. He swung the fridge door open, making a face at the contents. “Is this kombucha stuff yours or Loki’s?”

“Oh, that’s mine. You can have one if you want. Actually,” she stepped around him and grabbed one. “I want one.” She now held the bottle of kombucha and the sandwich in one hand, the bowl of queso in the other, and she shoved the bag of chips into the crook of her elbow. “You wanna join?”

“Tony shook his head with a fond smile. “No, I need to do some work in the lab. Thanks, though. Oh, hey.”

She turned back around, eyebrow arched in question.

“You know we love you, right?”

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked confused, but nodded. “Yeah, I- I know.”

“Okay. Good.” Tony smiled at her, but winced when she turned her back and continued on the way to her room.

\---

“Sage, can we speak with you for a minute?” She looked up at Loki from where she was reading on the couch, nodding as her stomach dropped like lead. Tony and Loki had been acting weirdly ever since the day she’d gone out with Sam. They’d been going out of their way to be nice, it seemed like, and she felt as though they’d been more lenient with her screwing things up, making messes. Now, that worried her. What if they had been being nice to her to catch her at unawares when they kicked her out?

“You aren’t in trouble,” Tony assured her, plopping down on the couch next to her, doing his best to serreptitiously set the girl at ease. “We’ve just got a thing to discuss. But first off, you have to promise not to get mad at Happy, okay? He was just tryiing to help, and he likes you, Sage. He wants what’s best for you almost as much as we do. Yeah? Can we agree to that?”

Sage nodded, eyes still a little wide with concern. “Yeah, of course. I love Happy, why are you expecting me to get mad at him?”

Tony smiled at her sadly, glancing up at Loki who was still standing. “J, you wanna play that recording for me?”

“Of course, sir.”

She looked confused at first at the sound of her own voice. The colour slowly drained from her face as she realised what she was listening to. “I-” she didn’t seem to be able to finish her sentence. He poor girl looked petrified.

Loki dropped his hand through the air in a vague slashing motion, prompting JARVIS to stop the recording. He crossed his arms in what Tony recognised as a defensive pose after years of fights with him.

To Sage, he looked angry. Upset. Her heart was pounding and free falling to the pit of her stomach. She felt like she was on the verge of vomiting. This had to be it. She was convinced. They thought that they could settle for her, but now that they’d heard those words from her own mouth, and they’d realised that they didn’t really want her-

Tony quickly realised that something, somewhere had gotten lost in translation. Sage looked like she was going to hurl, and Loki, he was realising, had his determined face on. Fuck. He’d forgotten that some people found Loki intimidating. “Sage, honey.” He stretched his hand out toward her, but froze when Sage flinched. “I meant what I said, sweetheart. You’re not in trouble. We’re not mad… Despite how Loki’s face likes to present itself.” He smiled reassuringly at the other man. “Hey, I mean it.” He smiled at her softly when she glanced up. “You’re not getting rid of us anytime soon, kiddo.”

She held her breath for a moment to hid the hitch, and very quietly asked, “You promise?”

“With every fibre of my being.”

Her eyes snapped to Loki, and her breath caught hopefully as a tear slipped down her cheek. “Okay,” she whispered, swallowing around the lump in her throat and looking away. “Listen, I-”

“Don’t apologise, sweetheart.” Tony hated that she felt the need to apologise. He hated it.

“No, nonononononono. I- I’ve gotta say this. I’m so so sorry that I still can’t get myself to completely believe that this is real and happening and that you guys want me. I’m sorry. It makes me mad, and it’s so not fair to you guys.”

She had this sad, disappointed pout on her face, and if this wasn’t breaking his heart, Tony would find it to be one of the most adorable things he’d ever seen.

“Sage, darling, it’s alright.” Loki was kneeling in front of the girl where she sat on the couch, cupping her smaller hands in his. He no longer looked closed off and ready to be hurt. Instead, he was in protect and comfort mode, which Tony and Sage would agree, suited him much better. “You do not have to fully believe it. You do not have to believe it today, or tomorrow; you did not need to believe it yesterday. We do not need you to validate our love for you, darling. We will continue to love you even if you… join the circus and become an emo.” His face brightened at her choked out laugh.

“That’s not…” She giggled wetly and shook her head, clutching at his hands. “You kinda mixed your metaphors.” The twinkle in his eye told her that he already knew.

He squeezed her hands gently and slowly stood, sitting beside her on the couch opposite of Tony. They both scooted closer to her, and Loki wrapped his arm around her, Tony taking her hands.

“We love ya, sweetheart. And we’re always here for you if you need us, okay? Night or day, doubts or otherwise. We’re here.”

She sniffled, squeezing her eyes shut and let herself have this. For five seconds, she let herself be. Be still. Be quiet. Be soft. Be calm. Be loved. Be happy. Be relieved. “Okay.” She whispered, not willing to open her eyes and risk shattering this moment. “Thank you.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Tony murmured, wrapping both arms tightly around her, and pressing a kiss to her temple. “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom
> 
>  
> 
> PS: should I change my end notes?


	22. That Season

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage starts contemplating finals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some more in depth Bruce/Thor!
> 
> Are you guys watching the Olypmics? Are your teams doing well?

On December thirteenth, Sage started freaking out. Exams were a week away. Christmas was two days after that. She hadn’t done any Christmas shopping or prepared anything. She had been planning to make everyone their own unique, personalised gift, but she was quickly realising that she’d have to scrap that idea. And on top of that, she had so much studying to do for each of her classes. She was so streassed out.

She jetted quickly to the communal floor, smiling gratefully at Phil as she snatched a waffle, and then sprinted back to the elevator, shouting, “This counts as attending a meal!”

Wanda shook her head slightly, pity clear on her face. “You could give the girl an Eggo and she would finish it before she noticed the difference.”

Pietro looked offended from where he was chin deep in his own plate of waffles. “Eggos are good!”

Wanda rolled her eyes.

\---

“Niece Sage?”

A blonde head popped out from behind the door of the fridge. There was a bit of shredded cheese on her face, and she grinned at the sight of Thor. “Hey! What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much, nothing much. Bruce has taken notice that you have seemed to be in distress as of late. Is anything wrong?”

She laughed lightly. “It’s ‘stressed out’ not ‘in distress,’ Thor. I mean, you can say ‘in distress’ but it kinda… means something else.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. So, like, when you’re in distress, something’s wrong, but when you’re stressed you’re just, like, overwhelmed? I think that’s a good way to put it.” She realised that his eyes were sparkling with amusement, and flushed slightly. “You already knew that, didn’t you?”

He let out a laugh and inclined his head slightly. “Why are you so ‘stressed’?”

She grinned at the air quotes, pleased she and Pietro had been doing their job properly. “Oh, you know. Exams. Christmas is coming up, and I haven’t gotten around to ordering gifts yet. Just normal December stuff. I’m good, really.”

Thor nodded slowly, but eyed her suspiciously. “If you insist. Perhaps… we could have a night of games soon? Would that help? If we all played Dutch Blitz for an evening?”

Sage’s face lit up in delight at the proposition. “That would be so much fun! I- well.” Suddenly her face fell. “Actually, I won’t have time. Crap. I’m sorry, Thor, I’ve just got so much studying to do for finals, I really just came down to pretend I’m still interacting with people and steal some cheese.”

“Sage.”

The girl flinched slightly and turned, seeing Bruce standing behind her, a mug of tea in his hand, looking sad. Fuck. She hated disappointing him. “Doc- Bruce! I- uh- you-”

“Would you like help studying? I don’t have an ongoing project at the moment, I could-”

“No! I- I’m good. I- uh, I’ve just gotta-”

“Honey, you’re running yourself ragged. How much have you been sleeping lately?”

“Well. You see, I-”

“Thought so.” He smiled at her softly. “I know you live in a tower full of scientists, but you have got to sleep, Sage.” He noted the guiltily sickened look on her face, and the way her arms were wrapped around herself as if to shield her from chastisement. He shared a worried glance with Thor, and decided to switch tactics. “Tell you what. Let’s have a game night, like Thor suggested, and in between rounds, I’ll quiz you on whatever you’re studying right now. I’ll get Tony to order pizzas, we’ll put on some music or something, just have a mostly relaxing night. Sound reasonable?”

Sage nodded slightly, smiling at him, but still not quite making eye contact. “Sure. I could live with that. Um. I’m gonna… be in my room doing… a thing, if you wanna, like, gather people and set things up? I’ll be back down at… five? Does that work?”

“Of course.” He smiled at her, watching as she walked to the elevator, and then turning to Thor.

“I am sorry, Bruce. I was trying to help, but clearly I-”

“No, hey.” Bruce stepped closer to the god, taking one of his hands and lacing their fingers together. “You got her to stay down here long enough to have a conversation with you. She hasn’t done that for a couple days. Youd did wonderful, my love.” He pressed a kiss to Thor’s cheek, and smiled when the god flushed lightly.

“You praise me too highly. I did nothing.” He squeezed Bruce’s hand gently, bringing their hands up and pressing a kiss to Bruce’s knuckles, locking eyes with him, smiling softly.

Clint walked into the kitchen, intent on making himself some Ramen, but stopped and groaned exaggeratedly at the sight of Bruce and Thor. “Really guys? Right in front of my salad? The two of you have rooms for a reason.”

Bruce rolled his eyes good naturedly and Thor let out a low, rumbling chuckle.

“You have no salad, Friend Clint.”

“Yeah, I know, Thor, it’s- yeah nevermind. I’m just here for Ramen. I’ll be out of your hair in a second. Just… PDA to a minimum while I’m here, ‘kay?”

“Because you always keep your PDA to a minimum, right, Barton?”

Clint laughed at the teasing, the tips of his ears turning red. Yeah, the good doctor had definitely caught both him and Nat and him and Phil going at it on the couch. More than once. In fact, it had been all three of them once or twice. Whoops. “That’s fair. But still.”

“Do not worry, Friend Clint. We shall be on our best behaviour.”

“Oh, don’t promise him that.” Bruce winked at Clint, eyes twinkling with humour. “Clint, we were thinking of organizing a game night tonight, just to cheer Sage up since she’s been so stressed lately. Interested?”

“For sure. By games, you mean…”

“Dutch Blitz!” Thor grinned widely. “So you will join?”

“Yeah, absolutely. Anything to help Sage feel better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	23. Game Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Game night commences as expected, along with a surprise for the guest of honor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone remind me that I need to get my butt in gear and start working on this one again lol
> 
> Sorry the birthday bit is rushed and shitty.

Sage was startled from her studying when her phone started to blare with an alarm, effectively cutting through the music she had playing in her earbuds. “Crap.” She’d set the alarm in case she’d forgotten to go down at five. She was late. Hell. She quickly scrambled around, picking up her stack of study guides and a pen, then raced to the elevator, knowing JARVIS would take her to the communal floor.

“I am so sorry, I lost track of time because I was studying and listening to my music, and then my alarm when off, and I-”

“You’re alright, darling.” Loki came up behind her hand placed a steadying hand on the small of her back, something she’d witnessed him do with a stressed Tony more than once. The gesture was a comfort. “You are hardly late if it is a party for you, and the pizza only just arrived. Calm down, it’s okay.”

She took a few deep breaths and shot Loki a grateful look before venturing farther into the floor.

Tony materialized on her other side, nudging her gently with his shoulder. “You ready? We were just about to deal. It’s okay if you need a minute.”

“Yeah, I’ll play this round.” She grinned up at him. “My heart rate’s already up, might as well channel my nervous energy into something positive, right?”

He laughed. “There you go, kid. Alright, what sort of tunes are we putting on?”

“Khalid!”

Sage turned, wide eyed, to stare at Wanda. “Wait, you like Khalid?” Then she narrowed her eyes. “You’re just trying to get me distracted so you can win. But you like Khalid?”

The Sokovian girl grinned. “Yes.”

“You need to stop spending time with me, I’m a bad influence.”

She laughed, and Tony looked affronted. “Um, excuse me, the resident bad influence is offended.”

Sage grinned and pulled Tony into a hug. “I guess you’re just rubbing off on me.”

“Hey. Are we gonna play, or not? I bet money on beating Sage.”

“Oh you did, did you?” Sage eyed Clint suspiciously. “And who’s on my side?”

“Is that really a question?”

She grinned at Natasha, and sat down beside her, reaching for a deck. She turned back to Clint, perplexed. “You really bet money?”

“In his defense,” Coulson piped up, “It wasn’t exactly his idea.”

Sage wrinkled her nose. “Is this something I don’t want to know about?”

“Probably. Come on, let’s get a game started.”

\---

Sage was taken aback when, after the third game, the team all started singing happy birthday, and Steve brought out a cake. She looked around to see whose birthday it was, then she remembered. It was December eighteenth. She turned fifteen today. She looked wildly for Tony, only to see him and Bruce standing side by side, Loki and Thor bracketing each respectively. Tony threw her a wink, and Bruce just smiled softly and nodded at her. Steve gently set the cake in front of her just as they finished the song and she blew the candles in one go, impressed at the lovely handlettering done in frosting. That took skill. “Thanks, you guys.” She was alittle surprised when Pietro handed her a gift, and she spotted more scattered around where other people were sitting. Usually he birthday presents were grouped in with her Christmas presents. A lump started forming in her throat. “You really didn’t have to.”

“We wanted to.” Bucky smiled at her gently, motioning toward the present. “Go on. Let us spoil you.”

She started unwrapping the package, wondering if she’d told them when her brithday was and forgotten, or if Jean had. She guessed it didn’t matter. She slid the card off the stack of books, opening it and letting out a bark of laughter at the contents. The front was a monkey, with a speech bubble that read, “It might not be tasteful…” and the inside was the monkey’s rear and it read, “BUTT you’ll probably like this card. Happy birthday.” The twins had signed it in their eerily similar handwritings, and Pietro had added an untasteful image of his own. She snorted while saying, “Thanks, you guys,” and looked at the books that had been included. The first was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which she’d been refraining from buying. The other two were fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli. She already owned Carry On and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and had told the twins that she’d debated buying these. Now she didn’t have to. She cooed and clutched the books to her chest, and looked to them gratefully. “You guys.”

Wanda smirked, and Pietro grinned widely. “You’re welcome,” they chorused.

Coulson was the next to hand her a gift.

\---

Hours later, the pizza was gone, the last card had been laid, and Sage looked dead on her feet. She and Bucky were on the couch watching ER while Steve helped Tony and Loki clean up. Bruce had given her one of those adult coloring books, Thor a set of Sharpies. From Tony, she’d gotten a new laptop, and supposedly the Apple Music gift card was from Loki, but she knew full well that it was Tony mocking her old iPod. She certainly didn’t mind. Steve had gotten her a collection of Bob Ross episodes, which she fully appreciated, both the show itself and Steve’s attempt at an inside joke, while Bucky’s gift was a set of paints as his eyes twinkled. Coulson, Clint, and Natasha had gotten her an astrolabe, a star tracking chart, and a telescope respectively. She fully appreciated how each groups’ gifts went together.

“Heck.” Sage murmured, scrubbing at her eyes. “I still have studying to do. I’m so tired, though.”

“No, okay. Why are you so stressed about this? I heard Bruce quizzing you, you knew the answer to every question.”

“I know, I know. I can’t… explain it, I just- I’ve always wanted to be valedictorian and maybe graduate a year early, which is hard when I’ve moved around so much. For most of my life I’ve been aware of the fact that I’ll need to rely on scholarship money to get into college. I know that’s not an issue now, but I still...“

“Can’t shake the feeling that you need to do it. I get it. But you need to take care of yourself, doll. You can’t just wreck yourself for good grades, okay?”

“Yeah.” She smiled at him ruefully, then gave him a short side hug. “I’m going to bed.”

“Alright. Sleep well.”

“You too.” She smiled at him softly, then moved to extend her goodnights to the others left on the floor. “Thanks for this,” She murmured to Bruce and Thor as she gave them each a hug where they were settled on the loveseat. “It’s just hard sometimes to remember that school’s not the end all be all, y’know?”

Bruce smiled at her gently. “Anytime. Goodnight, Sage.”

“G’night.”

Sage trudged to her bedroom and collapsed in her bed without so much as changing into sweats. She was out like a light as soon as her head hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	24. The Present Conundrum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buying presents for people is hard. Particularly when you've only known them for a number of months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, Sam Wilson is not in this story, and I have no idea why, but it's too late to put him in now, I'm too committed to my cast list lol
> 
> Also, have any of you noticed how much emotion I tend to convey through my characters' eyes and general body language? Yeah, I can't read either of those things in real people.

Once Sage was up and ready for the day, she got on her laptop to do some Christmast shopping.

She’d already bought an old Woody Guthrie vinyl for Sam, a collection of the world’s most loved poetry for Loki, a classic rock pump up mixtape for Tony. She’d trolled Etsy and found a little Hulk tea infuser for Bruce, and she’d gotten him some loose leaf white jasmine and earl grey tea to make up for it if he didn’t appreciate the joke. She’d found a rare, mint condition Howling Commandoes metal lunchbox for Coulson in an online estate sale. For Wanda and Pietro, she’d gotten a Chronicles of Narnia box set and both seasons of Sonic the Hedgehog respectively. She was seriously considering giving Clint Deep Space Nine as a gag gift, but she’d determined that she would only do that if she could get him all of The Original Series. She was stuck on Thor, Natasha, Steve and Bucky, though. She’d thought about throwing knives or something, but that felt impersonal. She kind of wanted to get Steve some of the Greatest American Hero series, maybe the first season, but she wanted Tony’s opinion on that idea first. Thor himself had given her the idea of getting him coffee from his stories of his first visit to earth. The thing was, JARVIS honestly brewed most of the coffee in the tower. Sage wasn’t actually sure if there was a normal coffee pot in the place. That was probably another question for Tony. She sighed, scrolling through eBay. Shopping for people was hard. She supposed she should probably ask about how they were doing Christmas too. Oh, shit. She froze suddenly.

Somehow, it had slipped Sage’s mind that Stark Industries held a charity gala every year around Christmastime, and the Avengers were usually in attendance.

“Hey, JARVIS?”

“Yes, Miss Ahlers?”

“Will I have to go to the charity gala?”

“I cannot imagine that Sir would insist on your attendance.”

“You can’t imagine, JARVIS.”

“While this is true, the point I was making is that Sir as of yet has no inention of introducing you to the public, to protect you while giving you time to adjust to living here in the tower.”

“But I’ve adjusted to living in the tower.”

“Miss Ahlers, Sir grew up in the public eye. He knows the stress it puts on an individual. He would not willingly expose you to that unless you insisted or he was forced.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip and looked down. “Thanks, JARVIS.”

“Anytime.”

She scrolled through eBay a bit more, thinking that maybe she should get Tony one more thing.

\---

“So, I was wondering how you guys normally do Christmas? We all celebrate it, right?”

Tony laughed. “Yeah, we do. Usually we do something fairly lowkey. The spy trio always wears matching footie pajamas, which I think is Clint’s doing, and-”

“‘Spy trio?’ Is that what we’re calling them now?”

“Yes. Anyway, Cap usually makes his amazing hot chocolate and Bruce is on waffles. Pietro and Wanda usually wander in an hour after everyone else, then we do presents.”

“Oh. Okay, cool. Do you have people’s presents already, or…?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m never not Christmas or birthday shopping throughout the year. I learned my lesson when I was dating Pepper.” He winked at her. “Oh, and Peter may drop by, but don’t worry about getting him a present. You two don’t know each other super well yet, so it isn’t a big thing, but he might get you something.”

Sage groaned. “Then I’d feel bad! Okay, so that’s another person that I’ll need your help shopping for.”

“Oh yeah? Who are you stuck on?”

“Steve, Natasha, Bucky, Thor, and now Peter. I mean, I’ve got… ideas for a couple of them, but I feel like they aren’t great, and-”

“There are no bad ideas. Just really, really stupid ones. Come on, kid, lay it on me.”

Sage laughed. “Yeah, okay.” She detailed all the presents that she’d already bought, excluding Tony’s and was delighted when he vehemently approved of her choices. Then, she outlined her thoughts for Steve and Thor to him, and waited for his response.

“I think you’re doing good with the coffee thing. Bruce and Thor have their own electric kettle, and Bruce gave the big guy a french press a couple years ago because he wanted to teach him to make his own coffee. Yeah, that’s great. As for Capsicle… I think he’d like Greatest American Hero. That’s smart to just do the first season too, just to gauge what he thinks of it. Also, it’s kind of hilarious. I see what you’re doing there, and I like it. You’re learning well. Alright, so the super spies and Peter.” He pulled up a blank hologram, and nodded toward it. “You wanna brainstorm?”

“You mean…”

“Write on it with your finger.” He smiled at her kindly.

“Oh. Right.” She listened as he started listing off things he knew about the three, writing down any ideas that sparked from his ramblings.

When Loki came down to fetch them several hours later, the hologram had expanded quite a bit and was filled with scribbles, some of it words, some of it underlines or strikethroughs, all in all, it was a mess. He smiled at the sight. His little geniuses plugging away at a problem together. It warmed his cold, Jotunn heart.

“Tony, love. Sage, darling. It’s time for dinner.”

Tony grunted in response, eyes darting all over the hologram as if searching for something. “Lokes, come help. We’re trying to figure out Christmas gifts from Sage to Nat, Bucky, and Peter.”

The god sighed heavily, but walked over just the same, and circled one in each of the categories Sage had created. “These. You’re clearly leaning toward them anyway, but you’re both indecisive.”

Sage grinned brightly at him, eyes bright with a bit of a frenzy. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, exhausted and brain dead and so, so, so thankful that he’d come along when he did. “Thank you, Papa.” She turned and gave Tony a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for helping me come up with ideas.”

Tony caught her in a hug as soon as she released Loki. “Always, sweet pea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's quietgirlatthebackoftheroom


	25. Almost There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finals end, and Clint and Natasha assist in wrapping Sage's gifts for everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! A filler chapter that was barely prewritten and has little to no plot development at all!
> 
> Alright, truth be told, I'm not in the writing zone for this as much at the moment. I'll still be doing my best to crank out a chapter a week, but they're probably going to be rather subpar, so my apologies for that in advance.
> 
> If I had better foresight, I would have made chapter 25 the Christmas chapter. Sadly, I am not that gifted.

Sage sighed with relief as she climbed into the car. Exams were over. She was free. She’d never have to take Chemistry with Lafitte ever again. Praise the frickin lord.

Happy chuckled from the front seat as she toppled over dramatically and laid out across the back seat. “That bad, huh?”

“Worse. My smarts are all fried. I’m brain dead. There are no more thinks in my head.” She smiled softly as she heard another laugh from the front seat, closing her eyes and pressing her cheek into the seat. “Would it be problematic if I fell asleep back here? Because I just might-”

Sage’s phone went off in her bag, and she groaned as she sat up to retrieve it, pulling a mildly irritated face when she read the caller ID. “Hey, loser. What do you want?”

Sam’s laugh huffed across the line. “Well hello to you too.”

“What’s up?”

“We’re still on for Christmas, right?”

“Yeah, I’m game if you are.”

“Okay. Dope. Umm. Is it okay if someone else is there too?”

“Sam, I can’t hang out with your stoner friends anymore, my dude.”

“No, that’s not… Sage, I want you to meet my boyfriend.”

“...Oh. I- shit. Fuck. Sam, I didn’t mean…”

“No, no, no, it’s okay. That was a totally fair assumption.”

“Well? What’s he like? What’s his name? Where’s he from?”

“His name is Jason. You don’t have to get him a gift or anything but since I know you, he likes to do puzzles.”

“A puzzle man, huh? I like him already. Like, Lisa Frank puzzles or more Thomas Kinkade?”

His eye roll was nearly audible. “I’m sure he’d love either. This isn’t gonna be awkward, is it? Because if you think it will be, that’s fine, we don’t-”

“No! I want to meet him! I’m not about to keep you from spending Christmas with your boyfriend.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll make sure he comes, then. Will it be okay if he stays the night? That won’t weird you out?”

“As long as y’all save room for Jesus and I don’t hear any strange bumps in the nighttime, I don’t have a problem with it.”

“Fair.” He chuckled. “So, how’re you doing? How did exams go?”

“Man, they were rough.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I dunno how many A’s we’ll be pumping out this year. There’s definitely gonna be several B’s. Spanish and Chemistry at least. Wanna know something? I think I might have failed the Algebra. I don’t remember taking it.”

“Are you for real? What happened?”

“I don’t know. All of the Spanish and French exams happened at once, so I got stressed out and I started sort of making things up because Mrs. Gates couldn’t answer all the questions at once, and you know how I am about waiting. By the time I got to the Algebra exam, I sped through it and by the time the period was over, I had no idea what was on the exam.”

“That’s awful. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. At this point, I’ll get the grades I get, y’know?”

“Yeah, I suppose so. Hey, how’d your birthday go? I was going to take you out, but I didn’t want to call if you were busy.”

“It was chill. Truth be told, I was studying so hard that I forgot it was my birthday, but they dragged me out of my room, and we had a little mini party. I’m not used ot seperate presents any more.”

“Well mine were meant to be seperate. They’re just being given at the same time.”

Sage laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

“So, see you Saturday?”

“Yep. Seeya.”

“Bye, babe.”

\---

“Uuuuuugh.” Sage groaned as she flopped down on her bed. “I don’t want to wrap presents.”

“You want some help?” Clint dropped from the vent onto one of her bookshelves, and Sage nearly peed herself.

“Jesus, Clint! Not okay!”

He grinned at her sheepishly. “Sorry. I was bored. I could help you wrap presents?”

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “You just want to know what I got you.”

“Well of course.”

Sage barely kept herself from screaming as Natasha’s voice drifted down from the vent and her head appeared, the woman herself seemingly hanging upside down. “Hey, JARVIS?” she said, eyeing the redhead warily, “Would you mind letting me know whenever there are people in my vents?’

“Of course, Miss Ahlers… Miss Ahlers, Agent Romanov is in your vents.”

“Gee, thanks, bud.” She sighed. “Alright, fine. I already have your gifts wrapped anyway.” She hauled a tub out from under her bed, as well as several rolls of wrapping paper. “Okay, I’m going to set out the things by person, and I’ll set the proper roll of wrapping paper with each gift. You guys can wrap. Deal?”

“Deal.” The two dropped onto the floor simultaneously, and Clint walked over to peer in the tub. “What’d you get Phil?”

She pulled out the lunchbox, and showed him sheepishly. “Do you think it’s a good idea? I wasn’t sure.”

“Oh, he’ll love this. Nat.”

Natasha looked up from her survery of the tub, a smile spreading across her face at the sight of the lunchbox. “That’s perfect. Nicely spotted.”

Sage grinned and set it down on the floor with a dark grey, nondescript wrapping paper.

“Did you… did you match that to his suit?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She sniffed haughtily and pulled a Chronicles of Narnia box set from the tub, laying it on the floor accompanied by a roll of scarlet wrapping paper, patterned with raised starbursts.

“Wanda?” Natasha guessed, glancing at the set interestedly. "It’s nice.”

Sage flushed lightly. “Yeah. D’you think she’ll like them? Like, I feel like they’re pretty much her speed, but I guess I’ve never really talked to her about Chronicles, and-”

“”Oh, yeah. She’ll love them.” Clint shot her a reassuring smile. “She’s into Tolkien, and in my experience, Tolkien and Lewis go pretty much hand-in-hand.”

“This is true. Hey, JA-” Sage grinned softly as music filled the room, the AI having anticipated the request. “Thanks, buddy. Uh, maybe some Beatles?”

“Of course, Miss Ahlers.”

She smiled broadly and pulled Steve’s gift from the box, turning back to the spies, eyes bright. “Commence Operation ‘Wrap Sage’s Presents’.”

Clint laughed, his head thrown back and Natasha chuckled, reaching for Phil’s gift. 

\---

Sage woke up blearily, noticing an arm thrown over her waist, and a head cushioned on her calf. Right, she’d crashed with Clint and Natasha in her room after they’d finished wrapping presents. They’d started watching Friends and Clint had tried to claim that she was a Monica. Sage had almost smacked him. She was clearly a Chandler. It was okay, though, because Nat agreed that he was a Ross. (He wasn’t really, they both knew that, but sometimes you gotta take a guy down a peg.) Tomorrow was Christmas, she realised suddenly. Man. By now, she’d been living in the tower for around four months and it had felt like a life time, but… It didn't feel close to the end. Normally at this point, she’d be itching to pack a bag, and her foster parents would be ready to lose her. She felt like she belonged here. If this ended, she’d be devastated.

She felt Natasha’s arm shift to start stroking her hair, jarring her out of her thoughts, and Clint began stirring where he was laying on her leg. “I wanna watch Great British Bake Off.” Sage said, testing to see if either of them was really awake.

Clint groaned. “Why?”

“Because it’s fun. Russet Gandalf, Clint. Russet Gandalf!”

“That idiot threw his entire bake in the trash.” Natasha protested, her voice low and rough with sleep.

Sage pouted. “You guys are no fun. Hey, JARVIS, can you put on Good Eats?”

“Of course-”

Natasha groaned, and Clint’s laughter drowned out the rest of the AI’s sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	26. Christmas!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has Christmas, and a good time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is late. Whoops.
> 
> I had to split this into two chapters because a prewrote some without anticipating how much actual Christmas there would need to be, so some things you may have been looking forward to may be delayed a week. #sorrynotsorry
> 
> Guys, if you think buying presents for your friends is hard (seriously, it's so hard) you should try coming up with present ideas for characters that you barely understand how to characterise (Whoops).

Steve and Bucky found their way to the communal floor at around nine, but they’d been beaten by Sage, Pietro, and Wanda, who were sat playing Mario Kart. Wanda was the only one of the three who was truly dressed, with Pietro in sweatpants, a Santa hat atop his head, and Sage in candy cane striped footie pajamas. Sage looked up as they walked in, smiling in greeting and taking a bowl of chips, vaulting the back of the couch, sliding between Wanda and Pietro just as the former won. The girls cheered and Pietro groaned loudly, dropping his controller in Sage’s lap and taking the bowl of chips.

“It’s your turn.” He ate a chip mournfully and made a face. “I”m sick of losing to her.”

“Ohhh.” Wanda pouted at him, a wicked glint in her eye. “I guess it’s that oldest child superiority. I’m just better than you, брат.”

Pietro scowled and sped over to switch our the chips for her controller, glowering at her as he sat back down and she laughed. “At least I can still beat Sage.”

“Hey! Rude.”

Steve chuckled at their antics, taking Bucky by the hand and practically dragging him to the kitchen, lifting the lid of one of the crock pots he had prepared the night before. The smell of chocolate wafted out, and over to the kids, and Wanda perked up immediately, turning her head to send a pleading look Steve’s way. 

Sage whined, eyes glued to the screen and unable to do the same. “No fair! This is distracting me! Now Pietro’s definitely gonna win.” She glanced to look at the boy in question, only to see that he’d already sped over and stolen some of the hot chocolate, which was steaming in a mug in front of him. “Bucky!”

The brunet laughed, walking over with full mugs for both her and Wanda, the other girl taking one and setting it down in front of Sage.

The next thing anyone knew, Sage was winning, and screaming victoriously, turning happily to her mug of hot chocolate. 

Pietro pouted, his character turned into a wall from when he’d gotten his own hot chocolate.

“Hah!” Sage pointed a finger at him, cradling her mug to her chest, a small mustache on her top lip from her victory swig. “I beat you! Fight me!”

“Alright, kids, settle down.”

The three turned to look, surprised to hear Bruce’s voice, and seeing that while they’d been distracted he’d arrived and already began making the batter for the waffles.

“So, are we having blueberry or chocolate chip waffles first?” He asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Thor sitting at one of the island stools beside, slurping down a huge mug of hot chocolate with vigour.

They all shared a glance and cried in unison, “Chocolate chip!”

\---

When Tony and Loki wandered down to the common floor at around noon, they discovered that they were the last ones to arrive. The kids had already eaten as many waffles as they were going to, and the super soldiers were eating at the island with the spy trio, Thor, and Bruce, one of the group occasionally throwing a comment over their shoulder to one of the younger group. Pietro, Sage and Wanda were currently playing Dutch Blitz around the coffee table, and someone had queued up their shared Pandora account on the tv to play a Michael Bublé holiday station. Tony smiled at Loki, and left his side to get some waffles of his own, delighted to see that there were both chocolate chip and blueberry ones left. Loki decided to join the kids for a game before getting breakfast, wanting to spend some more time with the twins.

They all broke for presents at around one. It was an ordeal the likes of which Sage had never seen. Quite frankly, it was a mess. She’d made the mistake of giving Clint and Bucky their presents one after the other, which had resulting in them throwing the wrapping paper at each other, nearly starting an all out war when Bucky accidentally clocked Natasha in the head because Clint ducked unexpectedly.

Sage had so many presents that she didn’t know what to do with herself. Every time she went to open one, someone else would hand her a package or a gift bag of some sort until she felt nearly walled in there were so many. Peter swung by before she could open a single one, giving her the opportunity to hop up and hand him his present, which she was rather proud of, frankly. It was Milk and Vine, a book that parodied Rupi Kaur’s work, Milk and Honey with vines instead of true poetry. He’d loved it.

When she returned to her little barricade, admittedly she was a little overwhelmed. She didn’t know where to start. She saw Natasha opening her gift, and her attention was immediately shifted. It was a boxed set of The Three Investigators series, books one through ten. She’d made sure to find a set that included book eight, The Mystery of the Silver Spider. Nat unwrapped it, and laughed happily, looking up to meet Sage’s eyes and mouthing _Thank you._ She nodded back in acknowledgement, glad that she’d liked the gift.

Clint caught her eyes next, holding up season one of The Original Series of Star Trek and winking at her. Yes. She’d been almost positive about that one. She’d ended up getting Bucky a couple Rat Pack albums on 45 rpm vinyls, knowing that he and Steve were really nostalgic, so they had a record player in their room.

Thor was ecstatic about the coffee, and ridiculously vocal about it, but Sage couldn’t help but grin. Eventually, the present opening slowed to a trickle, and Sage began to realise that she was still sitting cross legged behind her little wall of presents, not having touched a singled one. She blushed furiously as others on the team started to take notice. She just didn’t know where to start, she- there were so many, and-

Loki picked up a small package from the top of the pile and handed it to her, smiling at her gently, and Pietro, also recognising, or perhaps empathising with her predicament, sped over to sit beside her. “Would you like some help?” He asked quietly, careful to not sound judgemental or pushy.

She shyly took the present from Loki, and nodded to Pietro, wondering quietly, “Would you mind, just… handing them to me? I don’t- there’s a lot.”

The boy grinned. “Of course.” He reached for one to hand her next, scowling when Wanda lifted one up with her powers and floated it toward Sage, the present bobbing in the air patiently as Sage opened the gift from Bruce. 

Wanda smirked at him smugly. “I’m helping too.” She stated, ignoring him sticking out his tongue at her.

Saged laughed as she finished unwrapping Bruce’s gift. It was a few pairs of aloe infused fuzzy socks, because she always complained about how cold her damn feet were. She looked up, and saw him watching with twinkling eyes. “Thanks.” She took the box that floated in front of her face and nudged her gently, side eyeing Wanda. “Pushy.”

The other girl grinned and focused her powers on another gift.

This one was from Peter, and she had a pretty good idea what the flat package was.

\---

Eventually, all the presents had been unwrapped, they’d stuffed all the wrapping paper into several trash bags (the green side of Sage was protesting), and they were watching White Christmas, slumped on or against the couches, each person surrounded by a veritable mountain of gifts.

Everyone had loved Sage’s gifts. From Bruce’s little Hulk tea diffuser - which he was going to use every day, thank you very much, Clint - to the mixtape and the little picture collage she’d made Tony, no one had anything to say but good things.

Her own haul was quite impressive. She was still a little overwhelmed, but at the moment she was slightly distracted from the movie, wonderin how she’d get all of this into her room. Loki had given her a few journals, and a sketchpad, along with a set of watercolour coloured pencils. At her questioning glance, he’d told her, “Just in case you ever want to draw those stars you can’t stop admiring.” She’d flushed lightly at that. Tony had given her a t-shirt that she’d immediately put on over her onesie. It read, “Books are like people, except interesting.” and it had a little bunny with glasses reading a book behind the text. She loved it.

Thor had given her four, Gordon Food Service, sized boxes of Pop Tarts, and honestly she was living. Steve had, bashfully, given her a folder of sketches he’d done of her, surrounded by varying weather conditions. She loved it, and resolved to actually show him what she could do with her powers one day. Bucky had given her a huge teddy bear, nearly as big as Thor, and so far that was the one thing she wasn’t sure she could carry to the elevator. It might need its own damn elevator. Phil had given her movie tickets, and a promise to take her to see The Greatest Showman, which she’d been looking forward to for months. She may or may not have squealed upon opening that gift. Natasha’s present had been a panda onesie, and if she wasn’t already wearing one and a t-shirt over top of that, she would have worn that, too. It was so soft. Clint’s gift was a mini crossbow, which she wasn’t exactly sure she would ever have need for, but the knowing looks the team had given each other when that gift was revealed, made her wonder if maybe she’d need it more than she thought.

Wanda had given her a photo album full of all the selfies and ridiculous pictures they’d taken together since Sage had moved into the tower. She wished she could say she hadn’t realised they’d taken this many pictures, but truth be told, she was astonished that there weren’t more. She loved it. Pietro gave her a fuzzy blanket, which she’d immediately cocooned herself in unapologetically. Peter’s gift was, as she suspected, The Holy Meme Bible colouring book, and she was delighted. She was glad that she and Peter had a mutual, healthy respect for each other’s love of memes, and that both recognized how ridiculous they could get with presents for each other. When she’d unwrapped it, she made eye contact with him, and they both cracked up, unable to keep straight faces at their own ludicrosity.

All in all, the day had gone very well, she decided, and it was only around two o’clock. Next she was going to Christmas at Sam’s apartment and meeting his new boyfriend. She couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl
> 
> heheheh. You didn't get to meet Jason. I psyched you out. He's going to be in the next chapter, I promise. I had written Sage meeting him already, but I left the Christmas with the team bit until today, and there was much more of in than I'd originally thought. So, sorry about that, but he's coming!
> 
> Also, here's the link to Sage's new shirt, if you were wondering. http://shirtigo.co/books-are-like-people/ My cousin gave me this shirt for my birthday, and I love it so much.


	27. Christmas! (Still)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage meets Jason, and we get a glimpse of her powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I thought I liked the beginning. Iffy about the rest. Ehhhhhh.

Sage rang the buzzer at Sam’s apartment in one sharp, quick burst, suddenly rather nervous. What if this guy didn’t like her? What if Sam decided he preferred his boyfriend over her? Losing Sam would be the only thing worse than losing the team, at this point.

“Sage?” Sam’s voice came over the intercom.

She rolled her eyes. “No, it’s the queen of England. Yeah, it’s me, let me in.” She imagined him laughing as the buzzer sounded and she opened the door, jogging up the two flights of stairs to his apartment; barging in without hesitiation. “Man, you’ve really gotta give me a key.”

Sam laughed and pulled her in for a hug, careful of the presents in her hands. “You’re early.”

“Well, yeah. Had to beat the boyfriend. Make a good first impression, you know.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’ll love him, I promise.”

“Oh, I know that. You’ve got a brilliant taste in men. It’s the other way around that worries me.”

“Stop it. Everyone likes you, babe.”

“Your parents don’t.”

“My parents are backwoods, Mormon hicks from Iowa who wouldn’t know a pleasant disposition if it fucked them up the ass. Quit.” He walked into the apartment, directing her to place her gifts under the little tree in his living room and going to the kitchen, grabbing a grapefruit from the fruit basket and a knife from the block, slicing the fruit in half. “You want one?” He asked, offering her a half and a grapefruit spoon.

“Duh.” She hopped up on the counter and accepting them. She took a bite, and then looked up in surprise as the apartment door opened, leaning as far forward as she could, hoping to catch a glimpse of the visitor.

A young man walked in, dropping a bookbag by the door and wandering into the kitchen, large brown eyes immediately drawn to Sage. He smiled cautiously, waving to her and crossing quickly to stand by Sam, looking as though he was trying to hide without being obvious about it. “H-hi. I’m Jason.”

“Sup.” She smiled in what she hoped was an open way, surveying him thoughtfully. “Sage.” He was wearing one of the ugliest Christmas sweaters she’d ever seen, decked out in multiple shades of red and green, covered in tinsel, there were even lights flashing on his torso. She decided that she liked him. “Nice sweater.”

He looked down and flushed slightly, as though he’d forgotten he was wearing it. “Yeah, I didn’t actually mean to come in this.”

Sam laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist. “It’s fine, love.”

Jason smiled softly at him, but eyed the half grapefruit in his hand warily. “Have you eaten any of that yet? Because I’d like to give you a kiss, but I can’t stand grapefruit.”

Sam’s brows furrowed, but Sage’s face lit up. “Sammy, you gotta keep this one, muffin. That way I can keep stealing your grapefruits and your boyfriend won’t be trying to budge in on my territory.”

Jason laughed. “Are his godforsaken laundry habits your territory too? Cos you can keep those, I’ll just bring my own.”

Sage shrieked with laughter as Sam pouted.

“Rude. I shouldn’t have let you two meet.”

The blonde gasped and put a hand over her heart, dramatically hopping off the counter and crossing the room to clutch at Jason’s arm. “No! I’ve met him now, we’re keeping him. You two are no longer allowed to break up ever. I forbid it.”

Sam glared at her. “Sage, how many times do I have to tell you, you’re not allowed to claim my significant others. Oh!” His eyes lit up suddenly and he swatted at Sage’s hand where it was attached to Jason’s arm. “Sorry not sorry.” He gave her a shit eating grin. “Babe, did you bring your guitar?”

Sage turned to the raven-haired boy after glaring at Sam, eyes wide. “You play guitar?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the floor tile shyly. “Not super well… It’s just a hobby.” He turned his attention to Sam. “It’s in the car. Do you want me to bring it up?”

“Can I get it?” Sage hopped up and down eagerly. “That way you two can do whatever it is couples do to greet each other. I’ll be out of your hair for a few minutes.”

Jason laughed. “Sure, kid, go ahead.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out his keys, tossing them to Sage. “It’s in the trunk, which… may be a little hard to open. You’ve just gotta tug on it.”

She grinned. “Okay.” She skipped down the stairs, preparing herself to face the late December cold again, but she stopped halfway to the ground floor. She didn’t know what kind of car jason had. She winced, considering going back up to ask, but quickly discarded the idea. They were probably making out or something. She looked through his keychain, trying to find personality indicators that might indicate what kind of car this guy had. He had several tags, Speedway, Costco, Whole Foods, Kroger… She was probably looking for an early 2000s car, blueish in colour.

She propped the apartment building door open with a doorstpe that was sitting just inside it, and looked along the street. A few spots down, she spotted a sky blue, Mercury Grand Marquis _covered_ with bumper stickers. 2002, if she had to guess. She grinned and hit the unlock button on the key fob, watching as the taillights lit up. “Alright.” She stuck the key into the trunk lock, hearing the release click and tugging upward, frowning when it didn’t budge. She sighed and put one foot on the bumper, pulling upward as hard as she could, cheering when it popped open. “Okay. Guitar, guitar, guitar.” Her eyes roved the trunk, and she grinned at the sight of the guitar case. It had almost as many stickers as the car’s bumper did. She admired that in a person, the ability to commit to placing a sticker.

She grabbed the case, shutting the trunk and making sure the car was locked before starting back to the apartment building. She made sure to hit Sam’s buzzer as she walked in, to warn them that she was on her way up. Too many run-ins with young newleywed foster parents had taught her that lesson.

Sam and Jason were cuddling on the couch when she walked in. The latter had a mug of hot chocolate, and the former was talking animatedly about… PETA? Oh, god.

“No, I’m telling you, PETA wants to kill people! Make all the jokes you want about being a part of ‘People Eating Tasty Animals’, PETA is out for your soul, and they won’t rest until they’ve given it to a mountain lion.”

“Sam.”

He bolted upright, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and avoiding eye contact with Sage. “O- oh good, you found the guitar!”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Samuel Earnest Trynt. I don’t care if he does have a key, we’ve talked about this.”

“I wasn’t-!”

“Jason, dear, if Sam ever tries to have a conversation with you about PETA, smack him a refuse to listen. He has far too much passion about some stupid animal rights organization.”

Jason laughed, giving Sam a sympathetic look when he made a wounded noise. “No, it’s alright, Sage. I don’t like PETA either.”

“Well neither do I, but this one’s a conspiracy nut.” She walked over and sat on Sam’s lap, handing the guitar to Jason. “I mean, I love him, but he’s a nut.” She grinned at the brunet and kissed him loudly on the cheek. “Anyway. What’d we need the guitar for other than getting me out of the apartment? Also, why does Jason get a key but I don’t? Exactly how long have you been dating?”

Sam scowled and looked like he was debating shoving Sage off of his lap, but he wrapped an arm around her waist instead. “About five months.”

“Five-” Sage stared at him incredulously, mouth hanging open. “WHAT?”

Sam winced, while Jason chuckled. “I-”

“You’ve been dating for FIVE MONTHS and you only told me YESTERDAY?!”

“Sage, I was going-”

She leapt up, scowling. “Five months? Seriously? Are you kidding me?”

“I didn’t want to-”

“It was my idea.” Jason stood, holding his hands up in surrender, jumping as thunder rumbled overhead. “I haven’t come out to my parents yet. It isn’t Sam’s fault, so please don’t get mad at him. I wasn’t ready to tell people.”

Sam rose to his feet slowly, approaching Sage with caution. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I should have told you sooner. I didn’t want to put more on you while you were still settling in with the new family and getting adjusted there. Forgive me for doing a stupid thing?”

She clenched her fists and let out a shaky breath, crossing her arms over her chest and shrinking in on herself. “Yeah, I forgive you. I- I’ve gotta pee.” She turned away quickly, swiping at the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Did you guys hear that thunder before? I thought that only happened in really bad snowstorms.”

Sage froze, turning her head to catch Sam’s panicked gaze. She hadn’t meant to do that. If she’d made it thunder, than she was even more upset about this than she realised. She raced to the bathroom and sat on the toilet, quickly pulling out her phone to call Sam. “I’m sorry.” She said, as soon as he picked up. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t think I was that mad at you.”

“It’s okay.” His voice was coming both through the phone and the door. He must be sitting outside. “I should have told you. I didn’t even think about it. Jay just didn’t want to tell anyone, and I didn’t think to ask if you could be the exception.”

“No, I get it.” She moved to sit against the door, letting her head fall back to hit it. “I just- you aren’t going to forget about me now that you’ve got a boyfriend, will you?”

“Never.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. Will you come out now so that we can do presents and jam with Jason’s guitar?”

She hung up and wiped at her face again before standing up and opening the door. Sam was standing just outside, and he immediately pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed as tightly as she could, giggling when he made a fake strained sound for her benefit. “I love you, Sammy.”

He pressed a kiss to her hair. “I love you too, Sage. Promise.”

“Promise.” She whispered into his t-shirt before pulling back and spotting the rest of her grapefruit still sitting on the counter. She picked it up and headed back into the living room, picking up the present she’d gotten Jason and handing it to him, with an apologetic smile. “Sorry I jetted like that. I’m fine. I’m not mad at you, I swear.”

He smiled and handed her her own present. “Sorry I didn’t get you a birthday present too, Sam didn’t tell me your birthday was a few days ago until this morning.”

She grinned at the insinuation that he’d do his best to give her both presents in the future. “It’s okay.” She watched him open his present, grinning broadly at his enthusiastic response to the Bob Ross puzzle. She looked up to see Sam standing in the doorway, and handed him his Christmas present, winking at him.

Sam rolled his eyes and handed Sage two packages. “Open them. You’re not allowed to do it at home.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, and started with Jason’s just to spite him. It was an “I want to believe” poster, and she decided that she loved Jason even more than she’d orignally thought. “This is perfect! Oh my god! I love it!”

He laughed. “Well, I’m glad. Sam said you liked space stuff, so I was hoping you were into aliens.”

“Definitely into aliens.”

One of Sam’s gifts was a can of mace that was labelled “Hater Repellent.” The other was a Molskine journal with her initials monogrammed on the front.

She clutched both to her chest, and gave Sam a grateful smile, trying not to cry again. “Thank you.”

Sam grinned. “Are you kidding me? You definitely win this year. Your gift is way better than mine.”

“Shut up. No.”

“Fine. Agree to disagree.”

\---

Sam and Jason retired early that night, because Jason had to go to work the next morning, and, understandably, they wanted to spend time alone. Sage was crashing on the couch, but she had free reign of the tv, so she didn’t mind.

She thought back over the days events and got frustrated with herself. Of course Sam wouldn’t tell her right away when he was dating someone. That was fine. That was normal. She’d overreacted big time. She’d have to make it up to him somehow. When I get a significant other, she decided, I’m going to tell him right away.

Who knew, maybe that would be sooner than she thought?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	28. Quality Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Sage spend some quality time talking, and Sage catches someone's eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Quick note: At one point in this chapter, I mention Sage liking a coffee flavoured with amaretto. To clarify, I mean amaretto flavouring syrup for coffee - the non-alcoholic variety. I don't condone underage drinking. (And by don't condone, I mean if you are underage and drinking, I do not recommend it unless it's in very small quantities and under extreme adult supervision because alcohol can affect children and teens' developing minds. I don't necessarily take my own advice, but it is good advice.)

Sage was begrudgingly up and awake, eating Rasin Bran when Jason bolted to the door, grabbing the backpack he’d left there, and surveying his rumpled reflection in the mirro just inside the door. He raked a hand through his messy hair and groaned when it didn’t help, pouting as he threw open the door and raced down the stairs, calling behind him, “Bye, Sage!”

She chuckled and shouted back, “Seeya!” She noticed, as she was rinsing her bowl and putting the milk away, that Jason had left his guitar in the living room. She dried her hands on her jeans and wandered over, pickin up the guitar and pulling out Jason’s music and chord sheets. Guitar was, she thought, somewhat more difficult than ukulele, but not by a whole lot.

Sage had been pleased to realise that Jason had good music tastes. Landing in between her indie preferences, Sam’s affinity for folk and old country, and Tony’s fervour for classic rock. She looked up the guitar chords for “Us” by Regina Spektor and had managed to strum a few chords before Sam blearily drifted in from the bedroom.

“Jay? I thought you were heading to work.”

Sage gave him an apologetic grin, holding a hand over the strings. “He did, sorry to disappoint. Jason left his guitar and I wanted to play it. That’s okay, right?”

“Oh. Yeah, totally. He won’t mind.” He dropped onto the couch next to her, slumping over ot lean on her should. “You like him, don’t you? Because honestly, at this point, I don’t know what I’d do if one of you didn’t like the other.”

“Yeah, I like him.” She looked at him, knowing better than to chalk the faintly vacant look in his eye up to exhaustion. “You really like him, don’t you?”

Sam nodded miserably and buried his face in her sweater, groaning. “I think I’m in love with him.”

“Well good.” Sage elbowed him lightly in the ribs. “You deserve to be happy. Beisdes, He’s really good for you. You’re happier around him. Don’t fuck this up for yourself, okay? None of that self-sabotage bullshit. Let yourself love him. I promise, I like him. But, if he hurts you, I’ll murder him myself.”

Sam hugged out a laugh. “I suppose that’s fair.” He hooked his chin over her shoulder and glanced at her phone. “Us?”

She grinned, leaning her head against his. “It’s out power anthem. Hey, you wanna go get coffee?”

”God yes. I’ve already got a withdrawal headache.”

Sage laughed and shoved at him lightly as she got up. “You have a problem.”

“Well duh.” He poked her in the butt as she stood. “Pot.”

“Wait, you got pot?” She spun around and squinted at him suspiciously.

“No! I was-” He groaned and swiped a hand down his face. “You know, the thing. Pot calling the kettle black.”

“Oh. Okay, that’s fair.” She grabbed his hand and hauled him off the couch. “C’mon, I want coffee.”

\---

They went to a little hole in the wall coffee place equidistant from Sam’s apartment and the tower. It had become a favourite of Sage’s during the last week or so as she studied for finals. It was called The Roadhouse Café and all the signature drinks had fandom names. Sage loved bringing Steve iced americanos - hit with a shot of irish cream, and it was the Captain America - and bringing Pietro espresso blend black coffee - with three extra shots of espresso and five sugar packets, it was called either The Flash or The Speedy Gonzales depending on who you asked. Surprisingly enough, the drink calmed the speedster down. Personally, she enjoyed the @CheryBombshell - an iced almond milk latte with two pumps of amaretto, and a shot of grenadine.

Sam ordered a Neal Caffrey - a cold brewed espresso blend French roast - and, after some deliberation, a sausage, egg and cheese croissant sandwich. Then he payed for his order and stepped aside for Sage to order.

“Right, and I told him that. H- oh.” Sage had turned to the register, ordering smile ready, but stopped short at the sight of her usual order sitting in front of her. She turned to look, but there was no one waiting on an order. There wasn’t even anyone in line behind her waiting to order. “I-”

The kid behind the counter grinned. Their name was Aerin, and Sage recalled having several friendly conversations with them. “On the house as a congrats for acing that English final.” They laughed kindly at Sage’s bewildered expression. “You told me the other day; you were really excited.”

Sage flushed furiously. “Th-thanks.”

Aerin grinned again, tongue poking through their teeth adorably. They checked to make sure there still wasn’t anyone waiting to order, and leaned over the counter slightly. “Is this your boyfriend?”

“N-no. He’s, um.” Sage fiddled with the tray her order was on. “This is Sam,” she gestured to him vaguely, “He’s my brother.”

The boy smiled brightly and reached over to shake Aerin’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too.” Aerin smirked at him before turning back to Sage. “You get any other grades back yet?”

“Uh, no, not- not quite yet.”

A throat was cleared behind Sage and Aerin winced. “Yeah, I should-”

“Yeah.” Sage picked up her order. “Thank you for this.”

They winked. “Anytime.”

Sage noticed that Sam already had his order and had just been waiting on her. She flushed again.

“Ooooh, somebody’s crushing…”

Sage glared at him and darted to a table where she was safely hidden, but still in Aerin’s line of sight. “Shut up, Samuel. I don’t have a crush on Aerin.” She glanced up just as they did, catching their winking and ducking her head, fighting the blush that wanted to spread further down her cheeks. “I- I mean, they’re cute. But I-”

Sam laughed. “Alright, alright. I get it. You’re a hopeless emo child who will never know love.”

Sage kicked him under the table, scowling.

\---

“I’m back!” Sage called as she exited the elevator.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Tony looked to be making ravioli, and Loki was sat at the island, watching him happily. She’d probably interrupted in the middle of a story. “Did you have a good time?”

“Yep.” She gave Tony a hug and then walked around to sit by Loki. “Sam’s got a boyfriend now.”

“Oh?” Loki turned his attention to Sage. “What is he like?”

She shrugged. “He’s pretty cool. Plays the guitar.”

“Oooh, the guitar.” Tony grinned at the exasperated eye roll that earned him. “Sorry.”

“No you’re not.”

“Yeah, okay, you’re right. Anything interesting happen?”

“I think Aerin might have a crush on me.”

“Aerin…” Loki exchanged a look with Tony. “Remind us who that is, darling?”

“Oh. Right, sorry. Aerin works at that coffee shop I found, The Roadhouse Café? I thought I told you about them. They’ve got bubblegum pink hair and gauges, a really pastel vibe?” She noticed Tony shaking his head. “Weird. I could’ve sworn… Anyway. Apparently I told them how I did on my English final, so they bought me what I’ve been ordering the past several days as a congratulations.”

Tony chuckled, doing his best to ignore the faint unease curling in his chest. He hadn’t given thought to the fact that Sage might be interested in dating soon. No way was anyone going to date his daughter without the approval of every damn member of his team. “Is this a thing we should be worried about? Do I need to meet this kid?”

Sage rolled her eyes again. ”No. Anyway, I could’ve sworn they were dating someone. They were probably being nice.”

“But you do like them?” Loki asked, eyes roving her face, searching for clues as to what she was thinking.

She groaned. “I don’t know.” She buried her face in her arms. ”I didn’t even consider that that was a possibility until today. I mean, they’re really cute, and super funny and interesting, but… I dunno. This is either a crush or a squish, and I can almost never tell the difference between the two.” She heard Tony muffle another laugh and lifted her head to glare at him.

“I’m sorry.” he smiled at her kindly. “I resemble that remark. Ravioli?”

Sage’s eyes lit up, and Loki’s rolled. “Yes please!”

Tony grinned smugly and dished some out for her. “I told you, Lokes. Everyone loves ravioli.” He plated some for himself and Loki as well, leading the other tow to the couch. “Let’s watch National Treasure.”

“Yes!” Sage cheered as Loki sighed.

“Only if we’re watching White Christmas afterward. It is still Christmastime, Anthony.”

Sage laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl
> 
> Tbh I'm always a slut for National Treasure.
> 
> What do we think of Aerin?


	29. Unexpected Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper helps develop the plot and a bet is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know this is late, but I'm thinking about uploading a little extra thing tomorrow as it's Easter and also because I wrote it and it was fun. Hope you like this one!

“Hey Dad?”

Sage wandered into Tony’s workshop, nose buried in a book, and for a moment, Tony thought that he’d imagined the question, until she looked up at him. He blinked, processing, and then replied, “Yeah, sweetheart, what’s up?”

“What’s happening on New Year’s Eve? Is there going to be a party or something? I wasn’t sure…”

“Shit. I totally forgot.” He groaned. “JARVIS, call Pepper.”

“Right away, Sir.”

A holoscreen came up and the sound of ringing filled the room. Pepper’s face came up on the screen, looking mildly exasperated. “Tony, what is it? I’m about to have a meeting with the board members to explain your absence for the past few months. Oh.” She drew closer to the screen. “Hi, Sage.”

Sage grinned. “Hi, Pepper.”

“Pep, did you have a gala scheduled on New Year’s Eve?”

“Anthony Edward Stark, don’t you dare tell me you forgot the exhibit opening!”

Tony winced and Sage laughed. 

“No, I totally didn’t forget, did I, JARVIS?”

“I believe that you did, Sir.”

Tony swore under his breath, causing Sage to giggle. He sighed and turned to her. “Looks like I’ve got an art exhibit opening planned on New Year’s Eve. Why do you ask?”

“Well, if you were all going to something, I was going to ask if I could have Sam over so we could watch the ball drop.”

“Ah.” Tony considered the proposal for a moment, and was about to respond when Pepper cut in.

“Oh, let her have her friend over. You’ll all be gone anyway.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Tony joked, winking at Sage. “Yeah, I suppose that would be alright.”

Sage grinned. “Thanks, Daddy!” She hugged him tightly and raced to the elevator, stopping at the door of the workshop. “Bye, Pepper! Thanks!”

 

The redhead laughed. “Bye Sage, Love you.” She turned to Tony as Sage pulled out her phone and stepped into the elevator. “She’s calling you ‘dad’ now, huh?”

Tony shrugged. “I guess. Hey, you got the adoption papers drawn up, right?”

“Yep. The lawyer dropped them off this morning. Have you and Loki talked to her about it yet?”

“Not quite yet, but… I think she’ll be okay with it.”

Pepper smiled at him. “You’re a great dad, Tony. I have to go because I really do have that meeting, but I’ll drop by later, okay?”

“Yeah. See you.”

“Love you, Tony.”

“Love you too.”

\---

“Loki? Do you have a minute?”

The god looked up from where he’d been meditating for the past half hour. “I have many minutes, Anthony. You take up most of them.” He smiled. “How can I help, my love?”

The inventor sat in front of Loki, eyeing the yoga mat the other man was sitting on distastefully. “Pepper’s brining Sage’s adoption papers by later. I want to bring it up with her.”

Loki nodded, unfolding from the lotus position and drawing his knees close to his chest. “I feel that we should broach the subject with her. I would love to adopt her, but we also do not want to go against her wishes in this. This is a large step forward, and not simply for us. Perhaps we ask her opinion in the matter without mentioning the paperwork.”

“Yeah, okay. Good plan.” Tony smiled softly and sighed, dropping h his head into his hands. “I totally forgot about the art opening on the thirty-first. Sage is having her brother over.”

The god arched an eyebrow at him. “Is that a prudent course of action?”

He shrugged. “He seems like a good kid. Loves She a lot. I guess we'll find out, won't we?”

“I suppose.” Loki took Tony's hands in his, eyes starving the other's face intently. “You look exhausted, love. Come rest with me.”

Tony groaned. “I can't. I'm so closer to finishing the StarkPhone update and I’ve just got a few more things to modify on the new armour and-”

“Anthony.” Loki squeezed his hands gently. “Everything that you just mentioned can be put on hill long enough for you to rest. You've been in your workshop for two days. This Is me staging an intervention. JARVIS, where is Sage?”

“Miss Ahlers is in her room reading, sir.”

“please Inform her that Anthony and I intend to watch National Treasure, and that she is welcome to join us.”

“Right away, Mister Laufeyson.”

Tony laughed. “You're such a geek, Lo’.”

The other man frowned. “I do not know what you are referring to, my love.”

Tony scoffed an individual rolled his eyes.

\---

“Let’s make a bet.” Clint proposed, cuddled between Phil and Natasha as they all watched Flea Market Flip on HGTV on their own floor.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? You've been wrong about the winner every episode. You have ridiculous taste, Clint.”

Phil chuckled and Clint scowled at him.

“That wasn't what I wanted to bet on. I meant, I want to make a bet on when Tony and Loki will bring up adoption with Sage. She's been living in the tower a few months now, the whole team loves her; it has to be something they're considering, right? Because honestly, if they don't adopt her soon, I’ll do it myself.”

Phil rolled his eyes and paused the episode. “Clint, I love you, and you know I love you, but no one would let you adopt a child.”

“Sage is practically an adult!”

“She’s barely fifteen, you idiot.”

“Awwe, Nat.” He pulled out his best shit eating grin and wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, propping his chin on her chest. “I knew you loved me.”

She shoved his face away, and moved him to lean on Phil. “We’ve talked about you laying on my boobs.”

“But-”

Phil sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Children.”

“Five bucks says they talk to her about it within the week.”

Natasha squinted at him. “I see your five and raise you ten that they'll wait until after new year’s.”

Phil sighed. “Twenty says they do it by this Wednesday.”

The other two looked at each other and shrugged, not having a better offer. Natasha spat in her hand, Clint following and they shook hands. Phil grimaced disgustedly.

“I’m not doing that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	30. A Crack Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is literally just crack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be posted yesterday, but I hate working on fics when I don't have my laptop. Also, Ao3 wasn't working, but meh. I seriously considered making this just an extra vignette in the series, but I didn't know how many of you were read that and I know this is the sort of thing that several people were looking forward to.

“So I've been doing a little digging.”

Steve rolled his eyes. Sage was at a friend's house - Reisling, if he remembered correctly - and so Tony had called an "Emergency Avengers Debrief”. When they'd walked into the room, a picture was pulled up on the holoscreen, and it didn't take anyone long to figure out who it was."Tony, is this really necessary? Didn't Sage even say it was only a potential interest?" His inquiry was met with ten identical glares, so he lifted his hands in surrender. "Alright, fine. But quit accusing me of being stuck in the forties. Christ.”

"As we were _saying_ ," Tony side-eyed Steve pointedly, "We're gathered here today to discuss Aerin," he pulled out a clicker, and the picture switched, "A potential date mate of Sage's.”

He had a PowerPoint about this kid. Steve was going to cry.

"They are nineteen they're currently going to Harvard Law on a full ride academic scholarship. How is their customer service?”

"Quite pleasant.” Thor spoke up, a grin on his face, "They recognized me and created a drink named after me on the spot and refused to allow me to pay for it. Delightful person.”

Tony nodded, a contemplative frown on his face. "Bruce?”

“They were accommodating. Quite good at making a cup of tea. Very good at keeping an eye out for when I needed a refill.”

“Interesting.” Tony began typing in a StarkPad. “Super spies? What about you?”

“I like them. Nat ordered the most complicated drink I've ever heard and I picked a fight with some dude. They were really polite about kicking me out. Made Nat’s drink perfectly.”

Phil nodded. “I stuck around after both of them left, and the kid didn't complain about either of them to anyone.”

“I see.” He made a few more notes, and turned to Bucky. “Killer Bee?”

“They're not intimidated by the Murder Stride.”

“Dammit.”

“Tony!”

“Oh, lay off, Cap. Superspeed and Wiccan, gimme something good.”

Pietro shrugged. “I've tried ordering from then at a minor high speed before, and they kept up just fine so they must be an extremely quick processor. That indicates intelligence.”

“The only time I've ever sensed anything even remotely unpleasant from them was when an older gentleman came in one day, being openly and loudly homophobic. They were vaguely contemptful, and even then it was on behalf of the young lesbian couple sitting in the corner.”

“Okay. Lokes?”

“I have visited that coffee shop at all hours of the day, wearing all manner of shape, size, skintone, and accent and Aerin has never treated me differently no matter what form I wear. what say you to that, my love?"

Tony sighed, eyes frantically scanning the StarkPad. He looked up at the rest of the team with a grimace. "I cannot find a single thing wrong with this kid. I think that if they want to date Sage and Sage wants to date them, so long as the two of them come to us about it, I don't know that we have grounds to say no.”

Steve groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "I can't believe you people.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	31. Apologies and Arrangements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A discussion is had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna have this chapter be the Adoption Discussion™... And then I expanded this scene a lot because I liked it.

Sage leaned over the counter, watching Aerin make her drink, chatting easily with them. “So, I suppose I should probably apologise to you about my family coming in the past few days.

Aerin turned to face her, brows furrowing. “Your family? I hadn’t even noticed, to be honest with you. Was there a reason they all came in?”

“I may have told my dads about you, and well, you know how protective parents can get. They tell everyone that their kid met someone, and then the whole family has to get involved scoping people out.” She slumped over the counter, peering up at Aerin with her best puppy dog eyes, looking for some sympathy. “It’s honestly exhausting for everyone involved.”

“Ah.” Aerin grinned and set the drink in front of her. “So it was extended family, then.” They looked around, noting the empty store. “I’ve got to start cleaning up so I can clock out, but you’re welcome to stick around and keep me company if you want. I can drive you home… Or to your brother’s, if that’s where you’re crashing tonight?”

Sage smiled happily. “Really? That would be so great!”

“Of course. Are you kidding, I’d never make you walk home alone in the dark. We live in the city, Sage.”

“Well, yeah, I know that, but-”

“Hush. I’m taking you home, end of story. So tell me about your family, I might remember them.”

“Right. Well, we’re not biologically family. Technically, we’re not even legally family yet since I haven’t been adopted…” She trailed off for a moment, brow furrowing as she looked a bit troubled. Then she straightened up and gave Aerin another bright smile. “That’s beside the point. Apparently my Aunt Nat came in and ordered a really complicated drink? And then my Uncle Clint started a fight?”

Aerin paused in the middle of wiping down a table, titlting their head to the side thoughtfully. “Yeah, I remember… they came in on the same day, with another guy. He was just fine… Hang on.” They stood up to their full ~~unimpressive~~ height and narrowed their eyes at her. “Honey bunch, are you the reason that I keep getting Avengers coming in during my shifts?”

Sage gaped at them, unable to believe what she’d just heard. “You recognized them?! Shit. You’re not going to tell anyone, right? The fact that I’m being fostered by Tony Stark isn’t exactly public knowledge, and I’m pretty sure we’re trying to keep it that way, so-”

Aerin laughed. “You are awful at keeping secrets, sugar. Although, your family wasn’t exactly subtle about anything. Thor almost wet himself with happiness when I recognized him and made him a custom drink.”

The girl giggled. “Yeah, that’s Thor. How did you recognize all of them?”

Aerin gave her an “are you shitting me right now” look and nodded to the muffin display case. “You do pay attention to the things we sell in here, right?”

Sage looked over and realised that amongst all the other Pop dolls stacked on the display case were Avengers ones. She flushed. “Okay, in my defense, I’m extremely oblivious to almost everything, and _someone_ here tends to monopolise my time when they’re on break. Itotallydon’tcomeinduringyourbreakonpurposeumm.”

They snickered and went back to wiping down tables. “I paid very close attention to the Battle of New York footage, my dear.” Their voice lowered slightly, so that the next bit that they shared with Sage was spoken much softer. “My dad worked in one of the buildings that was destroyed, but he was okay… he was actually sick that day.” They offered her a weak smile. “If he hadn’t been sick, then he might’ve _died,_ and all I could think about that day was, ‘if we get through this, and these heroes win, I need to be able to recognise them. I need to be able to thank them because they could’ve been what saved my dad.’ So I did. I watched the news, I kept careful track of them, whenever I could. So. Tony Stark, huh? That accounts for one ‘dad’. Who’s the other one?”

Sage groaned, recognising the aversion tactic, and hating that shee couldn’t keep a damn secret, never had been able to. “Yeah. Um, Loki? Thor’s younger brother? Okay, so yes, he started the Battle of New York, but he was being brainwashed. But still, please don’t tell anyone?”

“I would never. Promise. Brainwashing, huh? Interesting. I mean, that’s totally awful, but who’d’ve thought. Hmm.” They smiled at her, tossing the rag they’d been using into the sink behind the counter and linking their arm through hers. “Okay, I’ve got to put these chairs on these tables, and then we can go. Feel like helping?”

“Of course.” She started at the opposite end as Aerin, figuring they’d meet in the middle. “So… that day that you paid for my stuff, when I brought Sam in?” She heard them hum in acknowledgement and took a deep breath, soldiering on. “Was that you… flirting with me?” She heard Aerin inhale quickly and hazarded a glance up, to see them avoiding her gaze.

“Not… in so many words. I… it was a spur of the moment thing, and scout’s honour I didn’t really mean anything by it, if I made you uncomfortable on accident. Look…” They looked up and met Sage’s gaze fiercely, unwilling to back down. “I like you, Sage. But, no offense, you’re younger than me, and I recently went through a nasty breakup. So, I want to be friends. Actual friends, and sometime down the road, if someone hasn’t snatched you up by then, and I’m ready, then maybe we’ll find out that we make a really dope couple.” They grinned as Sage barked out a laugh. “But not right now, yeah?”

Sage grinned. “Yeah. Totally, I totally get it. Between you and me, I’m kinda scared to date anyone right now because of the team. They would go _apeshit._ ”

Aerin chuckled. “I get that. Honestly, I do.” They placed the last chair on the table and then turned to Sage, wiping their hands on their jeans. “Alright, you ready?”

“Yep!” Sage chirped, bouncing happily. “Welp, since you know who my parents are now, do you mind dropping me off at Stark Tower?”

They snickered. “Sure thing, kid. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	32. Popping the QuestionTM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The question is asked, vague panic ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally ask her! Also a bit of insight into some of Sage's past.  
> Sorry this is so late. It took a while to write.

“Sage?”

She looked up from her book at the knock on her door, smiling softly at Tony’s unwillingness to enter without her permission. “You can come in.”

Tony opened the door and peeked his head around it, grinning at her. “Hey, sweetheart. Can I ask a favour?”

“Of course. What’s up?”

“Loki and I wanted to talk to you about something. Mind popping out here?”

“Yeah, sure.” She grabbed a bookmark from the table beside her and slipped it between the pages, setting the book down and following him out of her room. Loki was seated on the courch looking vaguely nervous, but not enough to set her on edge. “What’s happenin’?”

Tony sitting so that she was between him and Loki, but not close enough to either of them to feel smothered. The smile reached his eyes, but only just, and there was a tension in his posture that she couldn’t place. “We need your opinion on something.” He reached toward the table to pick up a sheaf of papers and hand it to her. 

Sage shakily took the papers, beginning to get an inkling as to what was going on. She flicked through the papers, eyes glossing over the pages and pages of legalese, picking up just enough to start to understand. “A- are these…?”

“Adoption papers.” Loki spoke up for the first time, poison green eyes meeting olive. “We would very much like to adopt you, darling, if you’re amendable.”

“Am- y- you’re _asking_ me?” Her head whipped between the two, and a lump that tasted a whole lot like _overwhelmed_ began forming in her throat. She saw Tony nod and quickly looked back to the papers in her hands and clutched them to her chest. “Can I think about this?”

“Of course.” Tony smiled at her again, more strained this time. “Take all the time you need.”

“Okay.” She kept holding the papers to her chest and stood, slowly moving toward her room. “I just- I um.” She blinked several times and nodded. “I’ll give you an answer by tomorrow.”

“Sage, darling, there’s no need to feel rushed or pressured, or-”

“No, no.” She smiled at them both. “It’s okay. I just need to figure out my feelings. By tomorrow. Promise.” She darted back into her room and sat on the bed, blowing out a breath and pulling out her phone to text Sam.

“That could’ve gone worse.” Tony grimaced at Loki. “Guess all we have to do now is wait.”

Loki hummed quietly, eyes stuck on the door to Sage’s room, more nerves showing on his face now that she was out of the room. “Anthony, what do we do if she rejects us?”

Tony inhaled sharply, chest hurting at the very thought. “It- it’s up to her, Lokes. We can’t change her mind on whatever conclusion she comes to.”

\---

Of course Sage texted Sam the news immediately. She was ecstatic. She could barely believe this was happening. Tony and Loki wanted to adopt her. They’d _asked her opinion!_ Half of her was going out of her mind with happiness, having hoped for this from day one. The rest of her was cautiously optimistic. She’d been in a similar situation before. This wasn’t the first time she’d had a set of parents talk about adoption, and her heart clenched at the memory. She looked over to the map she had taped to the wall and all the little pins she’d stuck in, one for each place she’d been. She skated her eyes over the phone number scribbled in the margin, before typing it into her phone and laying back on the bed, letting her eyes fall closed and praying that she would pick up.

“Hello?”

The voice on the other end was sleepy, and Sage swore for a moment after looking at the clock, realising that it was still six am in California. “Hey, it’s Sage.”

“Sweetie? Are you okay?”

“Wh- yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you. I forgot how long it’s been since I called you.” Sage couldn’t help but smile. She did this every time, and somehow she always forgot.

“Okay, good. No, Dan, go back to sleep it’s fine I’m just getting up to take a shower. You should consider it too, you smell.”

Sage snickered, picturing the scene perfectly. “Did I make you wake Dan up?”

“Oh, he fell asleep on top of me while I was reading last night, he deserves it. He’s getting sad in his old age.”

“Oh please. You guys are, what, barely thirty?”

“I wish that was still the case, sweetie. So what’s up?”

She blew out a breath. “So I’m with a new family.”

“Sam’s parents didn’t keep you?!”

“Please. I didn’t want them to. Anyway, We’re not here to talk about them.”

The woman laughed. “Of course. New family, I’m listening.”

“I’ve been with them a few months, and I- I like them a lot. I feel like I fit in with them.”

“That’s good, Sage. You know it is.”

“Yeah, and I also know that I’ve felt like I fit in with other families who dumped me out on my ass as soon as they could. And sometimes situations don’t work out. But again, not what we’re here for.”

Another chuckle.

“Jess, they asked me if they could adopt me.”

She inhaled sharply over the line. “Oh, Sage. They asked? Damn, they’re serious. This is good, sweetie!”

“I know. I know it is. I’m just… I’m having flashbacks of you and Dan. And I know that _can’t_ happen this time, no offense, but there’s still a lot of me just going over and over what ifs. I just needed you to talk me through it.”

“Of course, sweetie. Dan’s here, I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Okay.” Sage whispered. _God,_ she missed them. She missed lazy Sunday mornings and being greeted with orange juice after a bad night. She missed being able to curl up in Jess’s lap and Dan just playing the banjo after a horrendous day when they knew she didn’t want to talk. She missed his good morning smiles and her welcome home waves. She’d been heartbroken when Dan lost his job. Not just because it meant she would have to be put in another foster home, but also because it meant she didn’t know if they would be okay in the future. Jess and Dan were the reason she’d sworn off talking about adoption with foster parents. Because she’d thought, not only would no foster parents ever love her like they did, but no foster parents could ever measure up to the pair of them. She was right in the end, she supposed, because Tony and Loki didn’t measure up. The two couples used two different, incomprable measuring systems, and trying to pit them against each other would be ridiculous. “Hi, Dan.”

“Hey, starkid. What’s up?”

“She’s about to be adopted, Daniel.”

“Oh shit.”

Sage laughed, and then smiled wider than she had been. Dan was always good for a laugh, and dammit, she loved him. “Yeah. They asked my opinion.”

He whistled. “Keep those ones, Sage. You don’t find people like that often.”

“I know.” She whispered again, wishing she could just stay here and not have to face this. “What should I do?”

“Accept it if you want to, sweetie. Don’t feel pressured, but if this is what you want, take it. You’ve wanted real parents for so long, Sage.”

“I know, I know, it’s just- I almost feel like… Like I’m betraying you guys if I tell them yes.”

Dan sighed. “Sage, you would never betray us. Unless you Rick Roll me again, you little fucker.”

She snickered.

“Seriously, starkid. Do something for yourself for once. Make this decision for _you_ not for us, not for them, or anyone else. You’ve gotta do this for you, Sage. But either way we’re behind you one hundred percent, okay?”

“Okay.” She smiled softly. “I love you guys a lot. Sorry I woke you up.”

“You can wake us up anytime, sweetie. Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

“We love you!”

“Love you too.” She smiled again and turned off her phone, blowing out a huge breath and sitting up, nearly fainting back down again at the sight of Natasha standing over her. “You know, this is getting problematic. What if I had been naked?”

The spy shrugged, sitting beside her on the bed. “So they asked you, huh?”

“Yeah.” Sage sighed. “JARVIS, what happened to warning me about the vents?”

“Agent Romanov walked through the door, Miss Ahlers.”

Sage rolled her eyes and muttered, _fucking rude_. “What’s up, Nat?”

“First of all, fuck Tony and Loki, because Clint just won our bet. But also,” her face softened as she looked the girl over. “How are you doing? Need to vent at all?”

Sage shrugged. “Just remembering the last time someone tried to adopt me.”

The redhead nodded. “That’s who was on the phone.”

“Yep.” She started picking at her fingernails. “Jess and Dan. I- I think I’m going to tell them yes. Tony and Loki, not Jess and Dan. I- they told me it was okay. I guess- I just needed to hear that from them; that it was okay to be okay with having parents that aren’t them.” She scoffed. “They aren’t even my real parents.” She glanced up at Natasha. “You know that stupid thing some girls do when they get married?”

Natsha smirked at her. “Which thing, you’ll have to elaborate.”

Sage giggled. “The name thing. Where they take their maiden name as their middle name.”

“Yeah?”

“I think I wanna do that. Because hyphenating is tacky, ya know? But, I still wanna keep my middle name. I like it.”

“Colette, right?”

She nodded.

“Definitely keep that. It’s gorgeous and it suits you.”

Sage grinned. “Thanks. I think Sage Colette Ahlers Stark has a nice ring to it.”

“Sage Colette Stark Ahlers sounds even better.”

The blonde shoved at the other woman gently, unable to hold in a snicker. “Stop. I like taking Tony’s name. Loki did, didn’t he?”

“Ah, yes, the good old tax marriage.” Natasha smirked at her. “Tony will be thrilled. You’re sure this is what you want?”

Sage nodded. “Yeah, it is. I was really worried at first, but… they wouldn’t ask me this if they weren’t serious about it.” She couldn’t help the tears welling up in her eyes, a faint sense of _belonging_ settling in her chest. “I don’t want to put off becoming a real family just because I’m afraid that one day I’ll wake up and no one will want to have anything to do with me anymore. Besides, if I say yes then y’all can’t get rid of me.” She smiled sardoncially. “In all seriousness, I do want this. And if Loki and Tony are ready to do this, then I can’t see any reason to say no. That’ll mean I get freaking Thor as my uncle, are you kidding?”

Natasha laughed. “As long as you’re sure. I’ll back you up, kiddo. Even if that means I have to beat Tony up because he’s spending too long in the lab.”

Sage smiled. “Well, do you suppose I should go tell them?”

The older woman grinned. “Nah. Let’s let ‘em stew for a bit longer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	33. New Year's Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers go to the New Year's Eve art opening, and Sage and Sam stay in the tower to watch tv.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again, uploading on time.  
> I'm not super happy with this whole chapter, but there are parts of it I'm proud of. Tbh, between you and me, I'm not looking forward to the adoption chapter, because I have no idea how any of that works. I may just gloss over it.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Song of the week: Morning in America by Jon Bellion.

Tony and Loki were beyond ecstatic when Sage told them - with Natasha standing nearby for moral support - instantly sweeping her up in what felt like millions of hugs, but Sage didn’t mind. She couldn’t stop smiling. At their reactions, at the idea of really having a family again, at the thought of telling Sam. She was _happy._

\---

It was the night of New Year’s Eve, and Tony was even more fidgety than normal. He glanced over himself in the mirror and adjusted his cuffs for the four hundredth time, and Loki rolled his eyes from the bed.

“Anthony, stop. Everything will be fine. We’re only going to be gone for six hours. Sage will be fine. She’s been without us for longer than that before.”

“I know, but she’s practically _our daughter_ now, Loki. I mean, sure, we’ve still got somewhere around two months before the adoption is finalized, but what if something happens? What if someone at the law firm leaks information that we’re adopting a kid and someone attacks the tower or paps start harassing her on the streets?”

Loki sighed and stood from the bed, buttoning his suit jacket and walking up behind Tony, wrapping his arms around the shorter man and pressing his nose into the other’s hair. “She will be alright. We are going to be gone for one night, and she will be safe in the tower, stuffing herself and having fun with her friend. There is no reason to be worried.”

Tony scowled. “Just let me be concerned, dammit.”

Loki chuckled. “If I thought it would do any good, I would love to, my dear.”

\---

Sage saw them off from the elevator, waving and giving Tony a kiss on the cheek, promising she’d only let the elevator open for Sam. She smiled and waved as the rest of them chorused goodbye, going up on her tiptoes to kiss Loki’s cheek too before heading over to the couch and turning on the tv. Halfway through an episode of Supernatural, JARVIS informed her that Sam was on his way up in the elevator. She paused the episode and started two bags of popcorn in the microwave.

She didn’t look up as the elevator slid open, calling to Sam that he could pop a squat on the couch or get something to drink from the fridge. He didn’t respond for a moment, and when Sage looked over at him, he was staring at her, eyes wide, mouth ajar.

“What?”

“You live in Avengers Tower.”

“... Um, yeah? Did you miss the fact that Tony Stark was fostering me?”

“No, but I- it hadn’t, like… set in.”

“Oh. Surprise?”

 

He laughed and wandered over to stand by her. “Whatcha makin’?”

“Popcorn. I assumed you want some.”

“Alright. Are we watching the ball drop or not?”

She shrugged. “I’ve had enough things to commemorate the new year. I don’t need to. You?”

“Nah. So, Supernatural?”

Sage grinned. “We have six hours. We can watch all four Gabriel episodes, and then… I dunno, The Incredibles or something.”

“Gabriel was in five episodes.”

“Get out of here with that fake ass Metatron garbage. I don’t need you in my life.”

Sam grinned. 

\---

Wanda noticed Tony was getting really restless. They’d only been here for two hours, and he was doing very well, but she felt as though people were beginning to notice that he wasn’t exactly… present. His fake smiles were more vacant than normal, he was fumbling for people’s names that he’d schmoozed for for years, and he kept glancing at the clock, readjusting his cuffs and collar. She wandered over to Bucky, who also had an eagle’s eye on Tony. “Should we say something?”

He shrugged. “Loki doesn’t seem overly concerned.”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Does Loki ever seem overly concerned?”

Bucky snorted. “You’ve got a point, doll.” His focus suddenly shifted over to the god in question, ice blue eyes narrowing. “And suddenly, I think I know why.” He nodded in the direction he was looking, and Wanda glanced that way.  
Loki had a phone out, and he seemed to be watching something. “Is that-”

“Twenty bucks says it’s a feed of the tower common floor.”

Wanda glanced over and saw Bruce cornering Tony and starting to fuss over him, talking to him quietly and smoothing down the collar that Tony had inadvertently flipped up. “Oh, the cavalry’s come in.”

Bucky snickered. “Oh no. Thor’s heading for Loki. Quick, you distract him, and I’ll get Steve to see if I’m right.”

She nodded. “Deal,” and walked quickly over to the god of thunder. “Thor, I was wondering if you’d met Mister Lee?” She nodded to a nice, grandfatherly looking gentleman, sitting in the corner and sipping on a scotch as he surveyed the crowd with a knowing look on his face.

Thor’s face brightened and split in a broad smile. “Stan! My friend!” He boomed, heading over to talk to the man, who greeted him just as enthusiastically.

Wanda breathed a sigh of relief as the crisis was averted, and looked over to Bucky. He gave her a thumbs up and pointed at Steve talking to Loki, rubbing his pointer finger, middle finger, and thumb together. She rolled her eyes and pulled a twenty from her handbag as she walked, shoving it against his chest in a flat hand. “I’m only giving you this if I get a dance, Barnes.”

He grinned salaciously and laid his metal hand over hers, extracting the twenty from beneath her palm and wrapping his flesh arm around her waist. “Some might say this is prostitution, Miss Maximoff.”

“Well I’d tell those people that unless you’re sexing me up, they aren’t allowed an opinion.”

Bucky threw back his head and laughed, winking at Pietro over Wanda’s shoulder. “I think your brother suspects me of dastardly deeds.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pietro is just jealous I haven’t danced with him yet tonight. He needs help in understanding women.”

“Ah. Wish I could help him there. Swore off those in the twenties.”

She snorted. “I didn’t.”

He grinned.

\---

Tony knew full well that Loki had a feed of the tower on his phone, and he was frustrated because the bastard _wouldn’t let him see._ All he would tell him was _they’re fine, Anthony, stop worrying._ and dammit, he was sick of being told to stop worrying. He was _this close_ to saying ‘fuck it’ and flying off in the armour when a champagne flute was pushed into his hand by Phil and he realised that it was half a minute until midnight. Thank god. After midnight, he didn’t have any obligation to stay. He could leave and make sure that Sage was okay.

He started counting down with everyone else, ticking off the seconds until he could leave, cheerfully downing the champagne as the ball dropped, and taking Loki by the arm, rushing to the car they had waiting. The rest of the team could follow at their leisure.

They entered the common room four minutes later, having broken just about every speed law available in New York, to Sage and Sam watching _Tangled,_ and singing along to the pub song. He very nearly rolled his eyes out of his head.

Sage heard the elevator doors open and turned around, eyes lighting up at the sight of them. “Hi!” She vaulted the back of the couch and ran to give them each a hug. “How was the gala?”

“Horrendous.” Loki drawled, eyes sparkling with amusement. “Did you have a good night?” 

“Oh yeah. We had tons of fun, right, babe?”

Sam laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Um, y-yeah. I-it’s nice to meet, you, Mister Stark. Mister… Laufeyson?” He held out a tentative hand.

Tony took it and shook it heartily while Loki looked him over approvingly. “You’re the one who is an avid fan of my brother.”

Sam flushed, shooting Sage a betrayed look. She grinned and shrugged. “Uh, that’s right.”

“Hmm. Well, it is nice to make your acquaintance. Are you spending the night?”

“Um, I-”

“Yep, he is!” Sage grinned smugly at the two men. “Don’t remember if I asked or not, but it’s okay, right?”

Tony shook his head and smiled. “Yeah, sweetheart, that’s fine. I think the proper responsible adult thing to say is ‘don’t stay up too late’, but Steve’s always been a better responsible adult than me anyway.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Loki and I are going to bed. Don’t bother the others too much when they get back okay?”

She laughed. “I would never.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	34. The New Semester

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage starts the second semester of her freshman year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit hastily written, but I hope you guys like it!

Sage really didn’t understand where the break had gone. It felt like exams had only been a few days ago, but really, it had been three weeks. Granted, there was some part of her that was going stir crazy - Tony had become a helicopter mom ever since she’d agreed to the adoption - but going back to school was the _last_ thing she wanted right now.

After JARVIS had woken her up on Monday morning, all Sage could do was sit on the edge of her bed and stare listlessly at the floor for a solid ten minutes. How sick would she have to be for them to let her stay home?

She was startled by a knock on the door and quickly called, “Who is it?”

Tony chuckled. “Just checkin’ to make sure you were up, sweetheart. You’re usually out here by now.”

Sage glanced at the clock and swore, diving toward her closet to get dressed. “I’ll be out in a minute!” She shouted, trying to decide what clothes would keep her the most comfortable throughout the day. In the end, she decided on the oldest hoodie she owned and her softest pair of jeans. She tied up her hair and trudged out to the kitchen.

Clint whistled as she talked in, saying, “Man, who invited the Walking Dead?”

“Fuck off, Barton, unless you want to go to school for me.”

The archer laughed and laid a plate of waffles in front of her. “Made you breakfast.”

Sage turned sad eyes on the plate. “I wish I could eat you.” She sighed. “Thanks for the effort, Clint, but I-”

He grinned and set a quart mason jar in front of her. “Oh, sorry. The waffles are mine. The milkshake is for you.”

“Oh, God bless.” She took a sip and couldn’t even be mad that he’d tried to prank her on her first day back to school. “Holy hell. What’s in this?”

“Cold brew, almond milk, caramel ice cream, chocolate and maple syrups, whipped cream…”

“I’m going to be vibrating by second hour. Thank you so much.” She gave him a huge hug just as Loki walked in, trailed by Tony who was cradling a mug of coffee to his chest.

“Are you ready to go, darling?”

“Yep.” She grinned and gave Tony a kiss on the cheek before folllowing Loki to the elevator and calling behind her, “See you guys later.”

\---

Sage walked into first hour, milkshake in hand an dnearly ready to face the classroom, but as she looked around, she froze and nearly bolted back out.

There was a new girl sitting in Sage’s normal seat, in the back by the window. The new girl was _super hot,_ and attractive peers had always intimidated Sage.

She took a huge, bracing sip of her milkshake and send another, silent, _thank you_ to Clint, and went to sit beside the hot new girl. She wished mournfully for her seat, and started panicking becuase Hot New girl was turning to her and smiling and _no no no it’s too early to talk to hot people, please, no-_

“Hi!” The girl grinned brightly, and _oh she had brown eyes._

__

Sage swallowed hard, ignoring how hard her heart was beating and ground out, “H- hi. Um. You’re new.” 

__

“Yep. Just moved from Lake Worth, Florida.” 

__

“Y- what?! Why would you voluntarily move form Florida to NYC in the dead of winter?” 

__

Mrs. Harding cleared her throat and gave the two a _look_ before starting to take attendence. She went through the whole class, and then lifted a hand toward Hot New Girl and said, “Kiddos, this is Adeline Collins, and she’s new, so I expect you all to help her settle in here.” She winked at Sage. 

__

Sage flushed and direct eye contact with the girl. Adeline. Her name was Adeline. _God_ that was a gorgeous name. She glanced toward the other girl’s bag and noticed the little Hot Topic buttons littering the fabric. In a quick look she noticed a TARDIS, the Sherlock smiley face, a Panic! button, one for Journey, AJR, and what looked like a ‘What’s your damage, Heather?’ pin. Holy cow. The only thing glaringly missing was Supernatural, and that was an easy fix. Hopefully. She started listening again just in time to hear her laugh, and oh boy, that was a laugh Sage could get used to hearing. 

__

“Well, it was more my parents’ decision than mine.” 

__

_What?_ Oh yeah. Sage asked why she’d moved to New York City from Florida. 

__

“Do you like it here so far?” 

__

“Oh, I love it. I was born to be a city girl.” 

__

Sage chuckled softly at that. Personally, she rather enjoyed the country, but she did love the city too. “So, what classes do you have?” She hazarded a look back up the girl’s face as it lit up, and _damn,_ was she in trouble. 

__

“Here.” Adeline pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and shoved it toward Sage who was vaguely alarmed, but unwrinkled it and quickly recognized it as a class schedule. “I have no idea where any of these classes are, and I was hoping someone would be able to show me. 

__

\Sage heard her own sharp intake of breath and cursed herself softly. _Pull it together, Sage. She’s just a normal person._ “Well, lucky for you, this looks almost exactly like my class schedule.” She offered her a smile that she desperately hoped wasn’t too shaky, and turned her eyes back to the schedule. “Okay, yeah. I can work with this. You should just follow me until seventh hour. I can show you where your seventh is, but that’s the only class we don’t have together. 

__

Adeline’s eyes shone excitedly. “Oh, thank god. I was hoping someone cute would show me around.” 

__

\Sage flushed furiously and choked on the drink of milkshake she’d just taken. “You- I- what?” 

__

Adeline reached down and pulled her bag into her lap and, once she was sure Sage was looking, tapped one of the pins that Sage hand’t immediately latched onto. The lesbian flag. Sage could’ve smacked herself. 

__

“It’s not one of the popular flags, so I’m not expecting it to be a huge problem, and if you’re straight, that’s fine, but you seemed like the type of person who wouldn’t have their head stuck up their behind like most of the ‘Jesus loves me’ kids here.” 

__

Sage couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, no. Yeah. I- I’m pan, so. Yeah. Um. I’ll make sure to introduce you to the rest of the LGBT club. There’s about ten of us, so. We called ourselves the Largely Great But Tough club to sneak the acronym under the radar. I’m pretty sure some of the staff have cottoned on, but.” She shrugged. 

__

Adeline laughed. “That’s amazing. Yes, introduce me to these people, please.” 

__

Sage smiled, already not dreading the rest of the week as much as she had been. 

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	35. Girl's Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I really really love this chapter, and I hope you guys love it too.
> 
> Natasha calls Sage "love" both times when she speaks Russian in this chapter. I've also (upon review of one of my lovely readers) made sure that the words are the same.

When Sage got home that day, she darted straight to Wanda’s room, knocking franticallly.

Wanda threw open the door clad in a pair of tiny shorts and one of Pietro’s hoodies. “What’s wrong?”

Sage grinned at her breathelessly. “Emergency girl’s night?”

Wanda’s eyes lit up. “Colour me intrigued. I’ll talk to Natasha and Pepper.”

\---

Pepper was, regrettably, the last one to arrive, and when she walked in, the party was already in full swing. Natasha was quietly braiding Sage’s hair as she chattered back and forth with Wanda. “Ladies.” She greeted them, pulling a pint of ice cream from the mini fridge and four spoons. “What did I miss?”

“Not much.” Wanda smirked. “Sage has a crush on someone.”

“Oooh. Do tell.” She handed out the spoons and sat down beside Wanda, turning her attention to Sage.

The girl flushed and took a spoonful of ice cream, murmuring an apology when Natasha tugged on her hair to keep her still. “Okay, so. Today was the first day back, which _sucked.”_ Wanda and Natasha cooed sympathetically, but Pepper - who had barely had a day’s rest since _Christmas_ \- rolled her eyes. “Anyway. When I walked into first hour, there was someone in my seat. Which, that’s fine. I can ask people to move, but she was _new,_ so I didn’t want to be mean. And _besides that,_ she was really, _really_ frickin hot, so that was _another_ reason not to ask her to move, because, like, hot people are intimidating, and-” She saw Pepper’s raised eyebrow and reached for her phone, hissing when Natasha pulled her hair again. “Ow, Nat. _Rude_.”

“If you want straight braids, любовь, then you need to _hold stil.”_

Sage scowled and unlocked her phone, grinning suddenly at what she ahd pulled up. She turned the phone to Pepper, who whistled.

“Alright. Fair enough. Continue.”

“So, she’s from Florida-”

“She moved here from _Florida?_ In the middle of winter?!” Wanda looked personally offended, which caused Pepper to laugh.

Sage grinned too, and barely resisted the urge to nod. “That’s exactly my thoughts. Anyway, our class schedules are practically identical, so we hung our for th ewhole day. I’m practically in love with her already.”

Natasha hummed thoughtfully, and Pepper glancced up to see the soft smile on her face.

Wanda stole the ice cream from Pepper and started eating it, sighing when Sage pouted and held our her spoon. She scooted toward the younger girl and started feeding her bites of ice cream in between her own, causing the girl to smile contently.

Pepper couldn’t help but smile. Some days, she swore Sage was practically a cat.

“What’s her name?” Natasha asked quietly, fingers still deftly braiding the blonde’s _mass_ of hair.

Sage’s brows furrowed as she ate another bite of ice cream. “If I tell you, are you guys going to stalk her like you did with Aerin?” She shot a pointed look at Wanda since she couldn’t glare at Natasha.

The Sokovian girl shrugged unapologetically. “No promises.”

The blonde sighed. “Her name’s Adeline.”

Pepper serruptitiously pulled our her phone. “Adeline…?”

“Collins.”

Pepper immediately did the backgroun check and sent it to Tony without context, looking up to see Sage glaring at her.

 _”Pepper.”_ She whined. ‘I thought we were friends.”

The ginger smiled sardonically. “Honey, I love you, but I’ve loved Tony a whole lot longer.”

Sage pouted, though the experession quickly dissolved into laughter when Wanda shoved ice cream in her mouth. “I think I’m gonna offer to take her for coffee on Friday. Y’know, show her around the city.”

Natasha snorted, tying off her second braid and starting to massage her neck. “You barely know your way around the city, любовь.”

Sage groaned, tilting her head forward. “Yeah, I know. But _Addy_ doesn’t know that. And anyway… I want her to meet Aerin and Sam and Jason.”

“Mhmm.” Wanda narrowed her eyes in sage’s direction. “When do we get to meet her?”

“Well, gee, I dunno, can y’all even manage to meet someone without them figuring out you’re Avengers?”

Pepper’s brows furrowed, and Natasha chuckled.

“They made us, huh?”

“Yes, Aerin made you. Each one of you is about as subtle as a boiling tea kettle.”

Pepper blanched. “A civilian made the whole team because you were all _checking them our because of Sage?!_ ”

“Blame Tony.” Wanda offered the CEO some more ice cream, and she took it, grumbling.

Sage’s head shot up suddenly, grin wide. “Let’s watch The Princess Bride.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	36. Intimidation Time... Again

“Sir, you’ve just recieved a text from Miss Potts.”

“Bring it up on the screen, buddy.” Tony set down the wrench in his hand and wiped some grease on his jeans. He’d heard through the secret agent grapevine that Sage had called an emergency girl’s night, so he was assuming this was related to that. What was he greeted with was a background check on some fifteen year old girl named Adeline Collins.

He texted her back, _What the hell, Pep_

_You may want to do a real meeting for this one._

His brows furrowed. “JARVIS, where’s Loki?”

“MIster Laufeyson is in the study. Shall I tell him you were asking after him?”

“Yeah, please.” He took another look at the file. There was nothing out of the ordinary, really. A normal girl, going to Christian school with his daughter, apparently. She was from Florida, so she probably illegaly wrestled alligators or something. _Who was this girl?_

“Anthony.”

Over the years, Tony had gotten used to Loki teleporting places instead of _moving like a normal person, thank you very much;_ but today he was so lost in thought and confused that he jumped at the sound of his lover’s voice. “Dammit, Lokes.”

The god smirked and approached to wrap the smaller man in a hug. “What’s the matter, love?”

Tony shrugged, melting into the embrace and motioning toward the screen. “Pepper just sent me this. I have no clue why she’s sending me a background check on a _fifteen year old._ Even if this girl applied for one of the SI internships, I stopped having to deal with that when I signed over the company, so…”

Loki hummed in thought as he looked over the screen. “She goes to school with Sage.”

Tony’s brows furrowed as he thought about the significance of that fact. “Do- do you think-”

“A romantic interest, perhaps? You heard Hawkeye tell Coulson that Sage called the ‘girl’s night,’ did you not?”

“Yeah… He was complaining because apparently, he and Nat were getting down and dirty and she left him high and dry when JARVIS told her. Then he and Phil left pretty quickly.”

Loki pulled a face. “That part I really did not need to know.”

Tony snickered, then sighed and buried his face in Loki’s neck. “We should look into her; have another assembly. Cap’s gonna kill me.”

Loki chuckled and ran a hand through Tony’s curls, pulling gently. “I’d like to see him try.” He murmured lowly in Tony’s ear.

The inventer let out a groan.

\---

Phil cornered Natasha at breakfast the next morning. Normally the girl would all go to brunch the morning after, but it _was_ a school day. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, and began kissing up and down her neck until she relaxed in recognition. There were still some days when he couldn’t do this for either of his lovers, and every time they tensed in his arms because of unexpected contact, his heart broke a little bit more.

“We missed you last night,” he murmured against her neck. “Clin was pretty put out that you abandoned him.”

She laughed softly and rolled her eyes. “Well, you know the saying. ‘Chicks before dicks,’ ‘bros before hoes’ and all that.”

He pinched her on the hip. “Clint is not a hoe… Or at any rate, he wasn’t yesterday. Yesterday was Monday.”

Natasha’s shoulders shook in a silent chuckle, and she turned from her toast to give him a proper kiss. “Sage has a crush,” she offered finally as an explanation as they parted slowly.

Phil hummed, a hand coming to rest on her neck, thumb stroking her jawline. “I get the feeling this is going to be a recurring problem. Has anyone told Tony yet?”

She nodded. “Pepper sent him the poor girl’s background check. I know they all want to protect Sage, but honestly, the kid’s only fifteen.”

He groaned. “You know, if it weren’t for you and Clint, I’d have my own private jet by now. Maybe my own SHIELD team.”

Natasha smiled at him softly. “I know. But you love us.”

“I really do.”

\---

“What are you looking at?”

Wanda jumped so hard she nearly smacked Pietro in the face as he startled her. “Dammit, брат! We’ve talked about this!”

The speedster shrugged unapologetically, peering farther over her shoulder at the profile open on her instagram. “Who is danhowellslefttit?”

Wanda barely contained an undignified snort. “Sage’s new crush at school. I was stalking her instagram to make sure she’s not a garbage human being.”

Pietro frowned and slid over the back of the couch to sit beside her. “I’m helping. Sage can only be interested in people that I directly approve of.”

“Oh you worked that out with her, did you?”

“Yes. She’s agreed to do the same for me.”

Wanda’s laugh made Pietro’s face light up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	37. Caught in the Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too much meddling, the team finds out, is never a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically I'm posting this early, but it's also technically Saturday, so #noregerts  
> Someone please come see Deadpool 2 with me.
> 
> Has anyone ever actually listened through the whole Cheers themesong and paid attention to the lyrics?

By Wednesday, the entire team knew about Sage’s _nouveau partenaire_ , and everyone knew that everyone knew… Well, everyone except for Sage.

Steve barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he received an email from Tony regarding another team meeting. This was absolutely ridiculous. Honestly. He glanced over at Sage where she was sitting on the couch, doing something on her laptop and humming some song that he didn’t know.

She needed to know. He gave Bucky a kiss as he walked in, and a plan started hatching in his mind.

“Heya, Stevie.” Bucky murmured against his lips before grabbing a bag of pita chips and a bowl of egg salad from the fridge, plopping down on the couch beside Sage. “How was school?” He asked, snatching the remote and setting the bowl between them.

She grinned at him as he sat down, putting the laptop aside and opening the bowl, making grabby hands for the chips. “It went as well as can be expected. It was school. The people in my class are as dumb as ever.”

He frowned, holding out the chips as he opened Netflix. “You really don’t like school, do you?”

Sage shook her head, using one of the chips to scoop up some egg salad. “I love the idea of school. Y’know, leaning and all that; getting to research your passions, et cetera. Thing is, that’s not really what school is, and it’s so frustrating because we have to take classes we don’t care about, the people are stupidest fucking idiots you’ve ever wanted to shoot in the face-”

Bucky barked out a laugh. “Okay, I get it. Where were we?” He asked, selecting Supernatural.

“Season four pilot. I need to get the twins to make their own profile so that they stop messing us up.”

He chuckled. “Okay, so quick recap?”

“Season one: Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days. Season two: we’ve gotta get yellow eyes back and demon kiddos. Season three: Dean’s going to hell.”

“Right. Okay, are we ready?”

“Definitely.”

Steve watched the two with a warm smile on his face. Sage and Bucky had started bonding really well since Sage had insisted on making the two of them watch Supernatural. Steve had graciously tapped out after season one, because it wasn’t his cup of tea, but Bucky _loved_ it. It always made Steve _so happy_ to see them sat on that couch together, snacking and laughing and becoming engrossed in the show.

He decided then and there that he was going to find some way to tell her about Tony’s “emergency Avenger’s meetings”.

\---

They were holding the latest conference about Adeline, and to Tony’s relief, Steve hadn’t protested it yet. But the Captain wasn’t demonstrating active listening skills. He seemed to be texting someone, but a glance across the table proved that it wasn’t Bucky. Tony’s eyes narrowed as he watched Steve.

Steve looked up finally, and tucked his phone in his back pocket, offering Tony his most innocent smile. Hell was about to rain down on the team.

Sage strolled into the conference room as bold as could be, completely unaware of what she was walking into.

She pulled up short when she saw the PowerPoint. “What the hell…?” She shot a betrayed look at Wanda and Natasha. “You guys- why- what-” she scowled and turned a glare on Tony and Loki. “What the frick frack paddy whack is going on here?” She crossed her arms over her chest and thunder rumbled through the room.

Everyone looked to Thor, and Sage swore quietly before the thunder cut off suddenly.

“Explanation,” she demanded, sounding vaguely strained, “Now.”

Tony held up his hands placatingly. “Sweetheart, this-”

“If you tell her ‘this isn’t what it looks like,’ Tony, I swear to god.”

The inventor shot Bruce a dirty look. “Sage, we were just trying to make sure that you-” He carefully held back a flinch when the thunder crackled again, and instead approached her slowly. “To make sure that you’re safe and that we approve.”

Sage clenched her hands on her arms and took a deep breath. The thunder rumbled once more and then stopped, and when she looked up again the whole team was watching her warily. “Until further notice, the only Avengers I’m speaking to are Steve and Peter.” She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, leaving the team glaring at Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!  
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	38. Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage and Peter bond a little bit over being petty, and Tony gets forgiven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three cheers for yesterday being my last day of normal highschool classes ever! As of next Saturday, I will officially be a full time college student as well as a full time highschool student!
> 
> Just a clarification for the end of this chapter: there are allusions to Spideypool at the end of this chapter. I will not be including Spideypool in this fic at all unless it is strictly and entirely platonic. IF I choose to include Spideypool in this series at all, it will be in a later work, most likely in the third or fourth (fifth if I follow through with a prequel work like I may or may not have planned shhhh) work once Sage and Peter are well past underage. In this universe that I've created, Sage and Peter are the same age. Just wanted to state all of that, in case there was any squick about that because personally I really don't approve of Deapool/Underage!Spidey, but I'm really here for Spideypool once Peter is of age. That was a really long explanation to a potential problem, but I wanted to cover my bases.

“Miss Ahlers, Mister Parker is calling.”

“Go ahead and put him on speaker, JARVIS.” Sage stood up and stretched, meandering over to her closet. “Peter! How’s it hangin’?”

“Yeah, well, you know. Not much good happens during second semester. We’re going.”

“Ain’t that the truth. What’s up, man? You usually don’t call.”

“Yeah, um, about that.”

Sage stifled a groan, because she _knew_ what was coming next.

“Mister Stark just wanted me to, I dunno, check on you, I guess? He said you all got in a fight?”

She rolled her eyes. “They were all stalking this girl that I have a crush on to ‘make sure I’m safe’ and to ‘make sure they approve.’ Like, I’m not even dating her!”

“But you want to.”

 _"So_ bad.”

“Well, I get where you’re coming from, but… Try not to be too hard on Mister Stark. Y’know he’s new to the whole ‘dad’ thing, and I’ve heard that his dad was a real douchebag, so-”

“Yeah, I hear ya. I know I just wanna be petty for a bit longer.”

Peter laughed over the line, causing Sage to grin. “Yeah, I get that. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Seeya, Spidey.”

\---

That day, Sage went to the lab after school. She went and sat on the couch, smiling when Dum-E immediately zoomed over to her, chirping happily. “Hey, buddy.” She refused to look up and acknowledge Tony; instead she began talking to Dum-E and, when they too sped over, U and Butterfingers. “You know, guys, I really appreciate that you don’t stalk my crushes.”

U spun his claw inquiringly, beeping softly.

“No, no. I know you wouldn’t, U. It’s just that _some people_ have been. And the thing is, maybe if I’d known a little bit, I wouldn’t be so pissed off. I just wish that those _people_ would have perhaps asked me about my crush, and maybe waited to do the intimidation thing after Addy and I were dating. _If_ we ever dated. It just feels like they don’t trust me, you know? Hurts my feelings.”

Tony felt his chest clench as Butterfinger whirred sadly. He turned to look at Sage and saw her staring straight at him as she patted the bots. “Sage, I-”

She shook her head and stood, cooing softly at the bots as they scrambled out of her way. “I know you guys didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just frustrating, especially from you and Papa. It made sense with Aerin. But I hadn’t even told you about Adeline yet, and you- you-”

“Sweetheart, we’re _so sorry._ I- we-” He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. He held a cautious hand out to her. “I really should have thought about how that would affect you. If Howard had tried to do something like that to me, I would have thrown a tantrum and gone on a week long drinking binge. Not that Howard ever paid attention to any of my… flings, but-” He smiled tightly when she took his hand. “Loki and I carried away trying to do our best to keep you safe. We were definitely in the wrong. I'm sorry. Please don’t blame the rest of the team for this. It was almost entirely me.”

Sage sighed and pulled him into a hug. “I forgive you. I do. It’s just… annoying, but I get it. I’m still going to be mad at Nat and Wanda for a while.

“Should I tell Pepper that you’re mad at her too? She’s the one who sent me Adeline’s background check.”

“She did _WHAT?!”_

He winced.

\---

Sage invited Peter to that week’s movie night and refused to sit with anyone else. She sat him down on the loveseat and curled up next to him, the two of them talking animatedly about homework and how much school sucked. She was wearing a t-shirt with a little Deadpool on it that Tony _hated,_ and Peter couldn’t help but comment.

“Do you know Deadpool?”

“Nah. I really wanna meet him, but Dad says he’s too mentally unstable, which, _me,_ but-”

The boy laughed, noticing Wanda glaring at him, and shifted slightly closer to Sage with a gulp. “He patrols with me sometimes. We’ll get, like, Mexican food after patrol.”

Tony blanched from where he was plastered against Loki on the couch. “He does _what?!_ How- what- Does he _know_ you’re underage?!”

Sage rolled her eyes while Peter blushed. “Mister Stark, that’s really not- ‘Pool and I are barely even _friends,_ there’s no reason to- I would never-”

“Dad, honestly. Lay off. Peter can love whoever he wants to once he turns eighteen.”

_”Sage!”_

The girl cackled and winked at Peter. “Are we gonna watch this movie, or what?”

Steve chuckled and picked up the remote.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	39. Misleading Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our girls have a Really Lesbian TalkTM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have a surprise upload in celebration of the first day of Pride Month!! I'm going to be uploading as much as I can this and next week, because the only time after June 15th that I'll be home and have access to my stuff and proper wifi and ability to post etc, is June 24, July 6, and July 15-20. Then I'll be gone again from July 21-28. I will be working on the story as often as possible while I'm on my trips so that I have things to post once I'm at home for at least a day, but at this point, I'm going to try - _try,_ mind all of you - to post every day from now until June 15th, and then again on the 24, and July 6th. Posting schedule after that is unclear, but that's my plans as of what I decided just now at 1:00 in the morning.
> 
> But anyway, enjoy teenage girls crushing on each other and thinking that their crushes are unrequited! Seriously, someone save these two, they want to date so bad.

“Okay, you’ve been here for about a week now. Do you have a crush on anyone yet? You can tell me, I’m a great wingwoman.”

Adeline laughed softly and shook her head. “Nah. It’s- yeah. No.”

“‘No’ you don’t want me to help hook you up, or ‘no’ you aren’t crushing on anyone?”

“I- I um. Both. Both. Both is good.”

“First of all, my dear, you are very bad at lying. Also, I love Road to El Dorado, and now we have to watch it together.”

Adeline flushed lightly and grinned. “Okay. I’d be down.”

Sage winked. “Now come on. Who’s your crush?”

“I- well. The thing is…”

“Okay, so you figure she’s straight. Or not interested. I can work with this.” Sage rubbed her hands together gleefully, startling a laugh from the other girl. _Is it me? Please let it be me. I’m not straight. And I’m interested._

“Well… Both of those things? And I’m pretty sure she’s taken, so…”

The hope puttering in Sage’s chest flickered and died as she tried to keep her face from crumpling. _Definitely not me. I’m completely single. No mistaking this loner for taken._ “Okay, but we’re not positive, huh? Who is it? No wait, you aren’t telling me that. Okay. What colour is her hair?”

Adeline hesitated, her foot tapping rapidly on the floor. “Blonde.”

Sage did her best to squash the butterfly hopping around in her stomach. _She’s probably talking about Ella. Ella’s straight and she has a boyfriend._ “Okay. Blonde. Eye colour?”

“G-green.”

 _Definitely Ella._ “Okay. And explain to me why you think she’s straight and taken.” She pulled her best counselor face and propped her chin up on her folded hands. “How does that make you feel?”

Adeline burst out in giggles. “Ooooh. Therapist Sage. Careful, I’ll either tell you all my deep, dark secrets, or jump your bones.” She winked at Sage but bit her lip, looking suddenly nervous and almost… regretful?

 _Interesting._ “I’ll take the secrets. Let’s save the bone jumping for mysterious crush lady.” _Please jump my bones._ “So. Evidence of Straight and Taken TM. Go.”

The brunette sighed. “Well, I mean… She’s gorgeous, and no one that pretty could be gay. The universe hates me too much. But…” She looked at a spot just over Sage’s shoulder and sighed dreamily. “I love her laugh. I’ve only know her for a few days, but still. It’s so… infectious, and I swear it’s never the same twice. She’s really self-conscious, and always gets really flustered whenever someone compliments her, and it just makes me want to hug her and tell her how beautiful she is until she believes it. But-” She faltered and looked down. “Nah. She talks about this one guy all the time, and they seem really really close. Based on the stories, there’s no way I could measure up either to him or their relationship, so.”

Sage’s heart clenched. Poor thing, she was completely gone on Ella. “Okay, but we can work with this. Has she ever explicitly referred to him as ‘my boyfriend’? She might have friendzoned him.”

Adeline groaned and buried her head in her arms. “Don’t use the f-word!” She wailed, words slightly muffled.

Sage couldn’t help but laugh, reaching over to stroke her hair. “Poor baby. Would you rather I said ‘fuck’?”

“Yes!”

She snickered, not noticing how Adeline’s breath hitched as she kept playing with her hair. “Okay, let’s make a plan. Time to woo your gal. Even if she does have a beau, you never know, they could be about to break up. That’s how I landed my first girlfriend.”

Adeline’s head snapped up. “You- uh. Really?”

“Yep. We started talking, and then it turned out she had been getting ready to break up with her boyfriend, and she liked me back. I felt a little guilty about it, but I wasn’t the reason they broke up. Just the catalyst, ya know? And anyway, he got together with one of our other friends, and they’re still together, so it was a good thing.”

“Why’d you break up?”

“I was thirteen and being fostered by a really religious family. I went through a gay panic, then a sex panic, and then a ‘what if I’m a bad girlfriend’ panic. Long story short, I panicked and we broke up. We dated again about a year later, but ended up deciding that we were better off as friends.”

“Was there a reason?”

“She fell in love with me, but I didn’t feel the same. I didn’t want to break her heart more further down the road.” She sighed and looked sad for a moment, and then brightened again quickly, as if the sad had never been there. “So, your crush.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	40. Planning Seduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter in which Sage instructs Adeline in how to obtain a date with her crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of short, but I hope you guys like it anyway! I promise, I won't keep them oblivious forever.

“Enough about my depressing love life. We need a plan to woo your lady love. Do you think she knows you like her?”

Adeline shook her head, looking disappointed. “Probably not. I’ve kind of talked to her about having a crush on a girl, and I’ve hinted that it’s her a little bit, but she’s either ignoring it or she hasn’t realised.”

“Okay, then. What we need to do now is make sure she knows. You should write her a note telling her how you feel.”

“A- a note?”

“Yeah! Just don’t sign it or something. Keep it anonymous or come up with some clever nickname for yourself. Then slip it in her locker and if she says something about it tomorrow, shoot your shot.”

Adeline nearly spat water across the table. _”Shoot my shot,_ are you serious?!”

“Well yeah.” Sage snickered. “How else will you date her?”

The brunette broke out in giggles. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Thank you.”

“So since you made me dish about my crush, what about you?”

“What _about_ me?”

“Do you have a crush on anyone?”

Sage scoffed and looked away quickly, a lump forming in her throat. “No way. Crushes are lame.”

Adeline narrowed her eyes, and Sage nearly started panicking.

_She knows. She knows, she knows, she knows, sheknowssheknowssheknowssheknowssheknows-_

“Eye colour.”

“Wh- what?”

“You made me do this, so you’re doing it too. What’s their eye colour?”

“God. Brown. A dark brown, like, three shades lighter than her pupils. God, I love her eyes. I get… stuck in them sometimes.”

“O- oh. Wh- um. What colour is her hair?”

“Brown. A light brown though. Like almost a dark honey colour. It makes me so happy when she lets me play with it. _God_ I’m a tactile person.”

Adeline laughed at that, looking as if she was wracking her brain for who it could be. “Are you going to do the note thing too? Do you know if she’s straight?”

“Oh, she’s _definitely_ not straight.” Sage’s laugh escaped as a puff of air and she pressed her forehead to the table. “I would ask her out,” she continued, “But I know that she has a crush on someone else, and I don’t even know if she’s actually looking to date someone right now. It’s a mess.”

Adeline took the hand that was closest to her and laced their finger together. “Hey, if I can do it, you can do it too.”

Sage looked up at her, and then at their hands for a second before glancing away and smiling. ‘Sure.”

\---

Adeline stopped at her locker between fifth and sixth periods while Sage went straight to class. Her heart leapt to her throat when a small, folded sheet of paper fluttered to the floor as she opened her locker. She hastily shoved it in her pockets and grabbed her books, asking the teacher if she could use the restroom as soon as she’d set her things down at her seat.

Once she’d recieved permission, she raced to the back bathroom and locked herself in one of the stalls. She smoothed the paper out on her knees and read it four times before she truly processed what it said.

 _I like you. A lot. Like I really_ really _like you a lot a lot. I’m not hoping that you’ll like me back honestly. At this point, I just needed to tell you. Secretly. From safely behind a note where you can’t reject me. A question, though. Who’s your favourite Avenger? (If you want to answer, leave your answer between the bit that you turn for a new roll and the toilet paper dispenser itself in the stall with the door that was broken in the back bathroom.)_

God, who was this? A ~~huge~~ small part of her hoped that it was from Sage. Either way, she had to answer, didn’t she? The bell rang and she winced, pulling a pencil from her pocket.

_Well, I’ve heard that Thor is quite the lesbian icon, but my sexuality aside, Hawkeye seems pretty cool and underrated. Now you have to tell me something about yourself. What’s your favourite colour?_

She was taking a risk with this. Mysterious Note Girl might not even respond. Maybe this was a one-time thing. Either way. She blew out a breath and slipped the note into the toilet paper dispenser like instructed, stepping out of the stall and quickly walking back to class.

God, she hoped that that note had been from Sage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	41. Revelations to Calm the Beating Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IT'S HAPPENING

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm posting a chapter now and I'll post another one later bc my mom's being a laptop tyrant and I feel so awful that my cousin kept me out late so I couldn't post a chapter yesterday.

From Adeline: _So. My crush isn’t straight._

To Adeline: _Oh?_

From Adeline: _Nope. Told me about a female ex today. Also I found a secret admirer note in my locker between 5th and 6th today._

To Adeline: _Oh?_

 _Fuck._ Part of Sage had hoped that Addy hadn’t found that note. Now her gut was roiling with anxiety. This was the point where she’d told Adeline that she should ask her crush out. Shoot her shot. God, she’s actually said that; those words had come from her own mouth. She panicked and sent out a group text.

To Girls: _HELP!_

To Pepper: _I’m still very very mad at u so atone by responding to my distress signal_

To Pepper: _pls I’m desperate_

From Wanda: _What’s wrong??_

From Nat: _Do I need to kill someone_

To Girls; _Nat no wtf_

To Girls: _Need advice. Girl advice._

From Pepper: _Here and listening what do u need sweetie_

To Girls: _So my crush had a crush on someone and idk who it is but i want her to be happy bc im not a monster and i gave her advice on asking said girl out but then she asked if i had a crush and I said not obv but she read me like a book n told me if she was :askin out her crush then i had to too so i gave her a lil note and she responded and she just mentioned the note to me and at this point I told her 2 ask out her crush but idk if I can/should bc im chicken_

From Adeline: _It was honestly the cutest thing I’d ever read_

From Adeline: _Any idea who it’s from?_

From Adeline: _I just want to know bc she said she’s scared of rejection but I doubt I’d reject her_

From Adeline: _Omigod what if it’s my crush?!_

To Adeline: _kind doubt it’s your crush tbh_

Sage shoved her glasses farther up her nose and chewed on her thumb, anxiously refreshing her texts.

From Adeline: _oh god you know, don’t you?? I’m so sorry please don’t hate me_

From Wanda: _B*tch go for it!!_

From Nat: _I know you like her, but maybe slow down some?_

From Pepper: _Try. Ask her out and see what happens. If she doesn’t like you, be friends and move on. If she does, bring her around some time so that I can have her sign an NDA and warn her baout Tony. Here for you. love._

The girl took a deep breath and began responding.

To Adeline: _Know? Know what??_

To Girls: _Ok great Wanda u and Pietro should come be my moral support. <3 u Pepper._

There was a sudden gust of wind, and Wanda and Pietro were instantly on either side of her. The speedster stole her phone and began scrollling through her text interactions with Addy.

“Sage, this girl is head-over-heels for you. Ask her out already!”

“You think?”

“I very much think.”

Wanda rolled her eyes at the poor grammar and made grabby hands for the phone. He brother handed it to her, and her eyes were instantly glued to the bottom of the screen. “I would have to agree.”

Sage’s eyes widened and she snatched the phone back, scrabbling to read the new messages.

From Adeline: _About my huge crush on you?? And you didn’t write the note??_

From Adeline: _You knew right?? You figured it out??_

From Adeline: _FUCK YOU DIDN’T KNOW SHIT I’M SO SORRY I TAKE IT BACK_

To Adeline: _I DIDN’T KNOW BUT PLEASE DON’T TAKE IT BACK_

To Adeline: _I DID WRITE THE NOTE I’M SORRY_

To Adeline: _I LITERALLY HAVE THE BIGGEST CRUSH ON YOU HELP_

From Adeline: _HOLY SHIT_

From Adeline: _WILL U DATE ME PLEASE_

From Adeline: _TOMORROW I’LL BRING U FLOWERS AND ASK PROPERLY BUT PLEASE_

To Adeline: _caps is exhausting me but yes pls_

To Adeline: _we’ll have to keep it lowkey at school bc homophobia but yes please i will try to be the best girlfriend ever_

From Adeline: _I bet u won’t have to try cutie ;)_

To Adeline: _I’M SO SOFT WTF_

“Guys.” Sage whispered, fully aware that the twins had read her texts as she sent them. “I have a girlfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	42. What You've Been Waiting For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adeline and Sage have their first school day as girlfriends, and Tony isn't ready for his daughter to be dating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little short and not the best, and I apologise for that, but I wanted to make sure to get it out today.
> 
> I love you all dearly, and I'm finally giving the people what they want ;)

Sage had started the day panicking about what she was going to wear to school, and she was woman enough to admit that Wanda had picked out her outfit.

The next thing she’d done was inform the breakfast table of her change in relationship status.

“I have a girlfriend as of last night,” she’d announced, standing. “You’ve all already vetted her, and any complaints will be brough to me or kept to yourselves. I’m going to school.” She’d high-fived Steve on her way to the elevator and missed Tony and Bucky both doing spit takes as Loki’s jaw dropped.

Adeline had greeted her at her locker, hidden behind a huge boquet of violets and purple ambrosias. Sage had squealed and wrapped her in a tight hug thoroughly delighted when Addy tucked a sick violet behind her ear and declared that the rest could wait for her in the office today since they didn’t fit in her locker.

Now, Sage was sitting in theatre, watching a god-awful improv sketch and counting down the seconds until she could see her gorgeous girlfriend again. God, she had a girlfriend. She was dating an _artist._ Fuck, she was already gone on this girl.

The bell rang, startling Sage out of her stupor, and she slung her backpack onto her shoulder with a grin, racing down the stairs and skidding to a stop in front of the art room, tapping her foot impatiently until Addy emerged.

 _”Gosh,_ you’re slow.” Sage took the other girl’s art supplies and sketchbook, giving the teacher a cheerful wave.

“Gee, good to see you too. Give my things back, I feel useless and spoiled.”

“Hush. Let me be a good boyfriend and _make_ you spoiled.”

“Sage.”

“Hmm?”

Adeline took her free hand and jerked them to a stop. “If you _were_ a boy, we wouldn’t be dating and I wouldn’t like you half this well.” She smirked when Sage’s jaw dropped and stole her things back, moving several feet further down the hallway.

“Wait!” Sage raced to catch up with her, then slowed at her side. “Does this mean we’ll do couple’s Halloween costumes?”

Addy grinned, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “Absolutely,” then she continued down the all as if nothing had happened.

\---

“A- a _girlfriend?!”_

“That’s what she said, Tony.”

“But- she- I- but-”

“Oh, give the kid a break. You know this was gonna happen sometime, Stark. You decided to vet all of her crushes, after all.”

“BUT I DIDN’T EXPECT HER TO ACTUALLY DATE ONE OF THEM! IT WAS A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE BARNES, JESUS.”

Steve couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped him, and he couldn’t quite find it in himself to regret it when Tony turned to glare at him either. “Buck’s got a point, Tony.”

“Well _of course_ you agree with him, he’s your goddamn boyfriend for christssake.”

“Anthony, settle, my love.”

Tony shot Loki his most betrayed look. “But-”

“Sage is allowed to be dating. We have never stated otherwise. And you _did_ do a background check on this girl already. Let her be, darling. I trust her to take care of herself.”

Tony groaned. “I do too, but-”

“Tony. If it’s bothering you that much, talk to her when she gets home from school and figure out when you can meet the girl. You need to give them space, though. If she’s serious about this girl, she’s not going to appreciate you needing to check in with them every two seconds.” Bruce fixed the inventor with a pointed stare over the lip of his mug of tea. “Calm down. Take a deep breath. Trust your daughter to not do something incredibly stupid.”

Tony sighed defeatedly, then grumbled, “At least she’s not dating a guy.”

Every head in the room snapped to look at him with a look of surprise.

“Oh, don’t give me that! High school boys are dumb and cruel. I wouldn’t have trusted a single one of you to date Sage while you were in high school either.”

“Should I let Peter know that too?” Bruce asked, his eyes twinkling fondly.

Tony glared at him. “I love Peter like my own kid, but if he even _tried_ to date Sage, I would ban him from the tower forever.”

Steve let out a loud laugh. “Someone tell him that, please. Oh god.”

“Right away, Captain Rogers.”

Tony’s eyes widened in panic at the sound of his AI’s voice. “JARVIS, don’t you dare! I _will_ reprogram you! Don’t make me do it!”

“I would never do such a thing, Sir. Conversely, Mister Parker would like you to know that he only intends on being friends with Miss Ahlers.”

Tony groaned and buried his head in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	43. Temporary Precautions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a hastily written, kind of mediocre chapter!
> 
> These girls will get a real date eventually, I promise.

From Bruce: _I know you’re going to want to go on a date with your new girlfriend (congrats btw) but you should probably wait at least a week to let your dad have a chance to process this._

Sage was suddenly very glad that she’d gone to the bathroom to check her texts halfway through eighth period. If Bruce had sent her a warning text, that mean Tony was freaking out. Damn it, she’d really wanted to take Addy out tonight.

\---

“So, do you have any plans for tonight?”

The blonde turned to Adeline, seeing that the other girl had waited for Baylee to finish at her locker before asking the question. She grinned. “I don’t, but I recieved an SOS text during eighth from my Uncle Bruce. Apparently Dad’s having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that I have a girlfriend.”

Addy took her hand cautiously, giving it a light squeeze. “Is that gonna be a problem?”

Sage looked down at their hands, unable to repress a small smile, and shook her head. “No, he just needs, like, a week to realise that this won’t really change anything. I’ll have to schedule a game night or something. And hey, even if it was problem, it wouldn’t matter. As much as I love the song, you’re not going to be my dirty little secret.”

Adeline threw back her head and laughed loudly, causing Sage to start giggling. “A- are you sure?” She asked, after they’d both calmed down.

“Positive. He’s gonna love you.”

“Yeah? And what about you?”

“Mmm… I’m undecided.” Sage responded with a grin.

“Ouch. I’m hurt.” Adeline put her free hand to her chest in mock-affront.

Sage giggled again and let go of her hand reluctantly. “I should head out.”

“Yeah, okay. Walk me out?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

After a quick stop at the office for her flowers, Sage climbed into the car, opting for the front seat, and waving to Adeline as they pulled out.

“Is that the girlfriend?”

She looked at Happy in surprise, not remembering having told him, and he rolled his eyes.

“You changed your relationship status on Facebook during fourth period, kid. Besides, Tony’s been calling me nonstop because he’s freaking out.”

Sage winced in sympathy.

“Everyone’s freaking out because Tony’s freaking out. What they’ve all seemed to have forgotten is that Tony has never been good with change.” The corner of Happy’s mouth quirked upward. “I’ve known Tony longer than anyone in that damn tower. He always does this, the difference this time is that he’s letting people see him freak out. Depending on how bad his week has been, Tony will do this because he burnt his own damn toast, but lock himself in his workshop before anyone finds out.”

“That…”

“Doesn’t sound healthy?”

Sage nodded.

“It isn’t. He’s been doing a whole lot better about it, though. He’s stopped drinking as much. I don’t know if he’s quit completely, but there’s something to be said for lessened consumption. Having you around helps. You and Loki, as much as I don’t like the guy. You’re good for him, all of you. You’ve just gotta give him some time.”

Sage nodded again, looking thoughtful, then grinned. “So that’s all it takes for you to talk to me, huh? Tony having a crisis?”

Happy chuckled. “Don’t start counting on it, kid.”

\---

As soon as Sage stepped out onto the common floor, she was bombarded with questions.

“Did she give you those? Oh, they’re gorgeous.” Wanda cooed.

“Do they mean something? Does anyone know anything about flower language?” From Steve, which caused Bucky to crack up.

“You should have been a florist, Rogers, damn.”

“Was she polite?” From Natasha, who had a vaguely muderous glint in her eye, and a dozen ther questions from every side that she couldn’t keep track of. Then Clint called from his perch on top of the fridge,

“Was she a good kisser?”

Sage rolled her eyes and sighed, setting her flowers down on the island. “I will answer everyone’s questions individually later, except for Clint.” She couldn’t help but laugh when he booed her. “For now, is Tony in the lab?”

“Yes, love, he’s been down there all day.”

She offered Loki a bright smile and nodded. “Great. That’s where I’ll be if anyone needs me before dinner.”

“Welcome back, Miss Ahlers. Congratulations.”

Sage grinned. “Thanks, JARVIS.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	44. Necessary Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage and Tony have a Chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a new chapter! :)

“Hey.”

Tony looked up and saw Sage slipping through the door of the workshop. “Hey, kiddo.” He set what he was working on aside and wiped the grease off his hands before standing to greet her with a hug. “How was school?”

“School was fine. Addy’s great too.”

Tony huffed a laugh and glared at her halfheartedly. “Okay, I get it. I’m fine with this, you know.”

“Oh really? Because that’s not what the TID call that Bruce sent halfway through eighth period told me.”

“TID?”

“Tony in Distress.”

“Wow, okay rude. In my own lab. Damn.’

Sage grinned and followed him as he returned to the workbench. “You know we love you.”

“Some days more than others, huh?”

“Oh shut up. No.” Sage noticed the ever so slight tremor in Tony’s hand as he went back to work, but refused to comment on it. “You know this isn’t going to, like, change anything, right? It’s just a girlfriend.”

“Mhmm. A girlfriend who might totally freak out when she realises that pretty much your entire family is made up of Avengers? Who I can’t even meet properly without her and everyone within a twenty yard radius signing fifteen hundred airtight NDAs because I’m Tony Stark and god forbid I put even one toe out of line because I was an idiot and an asshole when I was younger, and now it’s expected but still somehow a shock to all the tabloids.” He turned to make eye contact with her. “I know that this has got to suck for you, having had me foster you. Once we tell the public, you’re barely going to be able to go to Sam’s without twelve members of a security detail and sixteen layers of clothing to hide your face from the paps and that _sucks._ That’s part of why I’ve been holding off for so long. I don’t want to have to put you through that. And now that you’re dating, once it’s out that you’re Tony Stark’s daughter, you and Adeline won’t be able to go on a normal date without everyone and their second cousin bothering you, and I don’t want that. I’m in a position here, because I want the whole world to know that you’re my daughter. I love you, sweetheart, and I want everyone to know, but I want you to be able to grow up normally, because I couldn’t.”

Sage sighed and leaned her head onto his shoulder. “And you couldn’t just tell me that before? Now I feel bad for being mad at you before.”

“Oh, no, I definitely deserved that. Don’t feel bad for that. But I was just trying to make sure that the people that you were potentially interested in were good people. Not just because whoever’s dating you had better be the absolute best because you don’t deserve anything less. Also because I need to make sure that you are _safe_ with whoever you’re dating, and that they won’t immediately turn to the media if the two of you break up. This probably seems ridiculous, but-”

“You’re just thinking twelve steps ahead of everyone else.” She pulled back slightly and grinned at him. “And no one else got why you were freaking out because not only can you not think at the pace of a normal human, but you’ve got issues with expressing your feelings like a normal human too.”

 

Tony couldn’t help but return the smile. “First of all, it’s rude to call out someone’s emotional constipation like that, but you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. I’m always right, haven’t you met me?” Her grin grew wider as Tony laughed, and she took his hand and stood, tugging him out of his chair. “Come on. I want to have a game night, and I want the team to not question me about my girlfriend, so you are going to come run interference.”

“You just want me there so that they’re more worried about me than they are about you.”

Sage winked at him and laughed, dragging him to the elevator.

\---

From Adeline: _So, how’s your dad handling things?_

To Adeline: _He’s fine. He was just worrying about things that I’m sure are going to be fine. He tends to get hyper paranoid because he’s like vaguely famous. It’s NBD_

From Adeline: _Vaguely famous? I think I would have remembered if a hottie like you was the daughter of someone famous._

To Adeline: _1) I was fostered 2) I’m not out to the public either as pan or his daughter 3) I’m secretly the long lost daughter of Alan Menken._

From Adeline: _okay so i 100% knew who Alan Menken was before but I just looked him up again and EW WTF SAGE WHY_

To Adeline: _LMAOOOO i’m sorry i just relaly like his stuff._  
To Adeline: _*really_

From Adeline: _RELALY_

To Adeline: _are you disrespecting me IN MY OWN HOME_

From Adeline: _as;lvns;dfjs Sorry bb ily_

To Adeline: _*heavy sigh* ig ily 2_

From Adeline: _That text hurt me deep in my soul._

To Adeline: _Me too, let’s never speak of it._

From Adeline: _Agreed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	45. First Dates and... Other Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the tin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have an early morning chapter since I'm not sure when else I'll be able to post today!

“I’m going to establish some ground rules because it’s Saturday morning, and I’m sure that for some godforsaken reason you want to go on a date with your girlfriend today.”

Sage wanted to protest, but really, he was right. Instead, she sat at the kitchen island to listen to the rules and get them out of the way quickly. “Is rule number one that we don’t talk about fight club?”

Tony smirked at that and pointed at her mock-sternly. “Don’t get smart with me, kid, I still control your comings and goings. First rule: if you’re going on a date with Adeline, just tell me. Or Loki. None of that,” he waved his hand vaguely, “Sneaking around bullshit that you teenagers are so fond of. Rule One Subrule A: if you _ever_ go on a date with Adeline, but tell me that you’re with Sam or Peter or whatever else you may be possessed to tell me? I _will_ find out, and I will ground your ass for a month, no matter the circumstances. That includes phone privileges, and belive me, your phone _is_ a privilege. We clear?”

Sage swallowed thickly and nodded. “Crystal.”

“Good. Now, about curfew.”

 _”What?!_ But Peter doesn’t have a curfew!” She pointed at the boy in question who was currently sneaking bagels from the cabinet.

“Peter is three months older than you, Spider Man, and also not our child.” Loki tried, hands up in a placating gesture.

“But- he’s-”

“Peter, if you’re sticking your tongue out at her, she has my permission to slap you.”

Peter’s tongue quickly returned to his mouth and he raced to the living room.

“Curfew is eleven on school nights, one a.m. on weekends. If you have problems adhering to that, it will be set earlier.”

“As far as sleepovers go, we trust you to make good decisions. Neither one of you can get the other pregnant, though that is a conversation that I am glad to delegate to Anthony when we need to have it with Peter.”

Sage snickered as Tony shot Loki a betrayed look.

“So the rules pretty much boil down to ‘don’t make stupid decisions, Sage’.”

“Pretty much.”

“Great. I’m headed out.”

“Where?”

“I’m taking Addy to The Roadhouse.”

“So Aerin’s meeting her before us?!”

Sage shrugged at him as she backed into the elevator. “Aerin isn’t Tony Stark. Love you!”

“Yeah. love you too.”

\---

“Oh, this place is _adorable!”_

Sage grinned as Adeline positively _gushed_ about The Roadhouse. “So what you’re talling me is that I picked a good first date spot?”

The brunette’s eyes sparkled as she whipped around to look at her girlfriend. “Is that what we’re officially making it?”

Sage shrugged. “If you want.”

“Yes! Yes! I definitely want!” She grabbed one of Sage’s hands in both of hers and yanked her further into the café. “Ohhh, Sage, this is _perfect.”_

“I’m glad you like it,” Sage replied quietly, seeming almost bashful.

Addy looked at her and nodded, as if deciding something, before pressing a soft kiss to her cheek and murmuring a soft “I love it.” and marching them to the counter. “Could I please have a medium, err, Legolas? And she’ll have-”

“A Moose @CherylBombshell?” Aerin finished, a smirk on their face.

“Um, no, a Sam Winchester today, actually.”

Aerin’s eyebrows rose. A medium matcha latte for Sage’s girlfriend(?) was no problem, but an extra large iced caramel mocha frappe with four shots of espresso? Sage would have a heart attack. “Sage, are you-”

She winked at them. “They don’t let me have alcohol yet, so I have to make do with espresso. Kidding. Mostly. Addy, this is Aerin, they’re amazing. Aerin, Addy, my girlfriend.” Sage paid while Adeline was distracted by introductions, and grinned when Aerin winked at her, having noticed the pointed distraction.

\---

“Sage! That is _huge!”_

Okay, so in hindsight, it had been an unwise order. In her defence, Sage had been meaning to switch up her order, and ordered the first thing that she’d seen after recovering from her cheek kiss induced blush. And now she was caught between a ‘that’s what she said’ and a misplaced comment about finishing. She settled for option three.

“Tell you what, if I start vibrating before the end of our date, you’re allowed to take it away from me. Deal?”

“Deal.”

They both grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	46. A Fluffy Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A guy is homophobic. Sage handles it well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a dialogue-heavy, fluffy, interlude chapter!
> 
> Also featuring: Riesling's first onscreen appearance! She's been mentioned about four times before now, and you finally get to meet her! ~~she's totally not based on one of my best friends *sweats*~~

“Good moooorning!”

Sage groaned and leaned her head against her locker. She hadn’t thought caffeine hangovers were a thing. She was sadly mistaken. “Honey, I love you, you’re wonderful, but it’s too early.”

Adeline snickered. “Regretting that coffee, huh?”

“So much. _God_ I slept for fifteen hours straight last night. My head is pounding because I slept too long.”

“That feels like it’s not a thing, but I guess I believe you.” Adeline took Sage’s hand and stroked her thumb over the other girl’s knuckles soothingly. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Sage took a deep breath in through her nose and took her head off of her locker, turning to offer Adeline a tight grin. “Just a headache. Nothing serious. I’m wonderful.”

“Oh my god, get a room you lesbos.”

Adeline’s hand tightened around Sage’s, and the blonde put a steadying hand on her arm.

“Hey, Pasey. How about you shut the frack up. Or I’ll _give_ you a lesbian scandal.”

“DId I hear lesbian scandal?” Riesling walked past them to her own locker, barely even paying attention to the conversation, eyes glued to her phone.

“Yep! I told Pasey that you and I were making out on his locker yesterday.” Sage waggled her eyebrows at the boy as he made a distgusted face.

“You did _not!”_

“Oh yeah? Riesling, c’mere.” Sage motioned the other girl over, a smirk plastered to her face, fully prepared to mime a furious make out session against Pasey’s locker, maybe even venturing over to Luke’s, since he was next to the other boy looking just as revolted.

“Okay, I get it! Leave my locker alone! Dang.”

Sage grinned and waved sarcastically as they moved further down the hallway on their way to first hour, then turned back to Adeline looking worried. “Are you good? Does it bother you that I was ready to fake make out with Riesling? Because I swear, it’s just as weird for me as it is for you. She’s not even not-straight, so. Also I just hate touching her in general. We don’t even hug. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

Adeline huffed out a laugh, looking a little shaken. “Sometimes I forget that Pasey is an utter _ass._ I’m fine. I mean, I’m glad that you would… makeout with Riesling to defend my honour? But it’s fine. Well, it’s not fine, but, you know. You’re cute when you ramble.”

“Oh my god, you’re so ridiculous. I love it.”

 _”I’m_ ridiculous? Which one of us jumped at the opportunity to make out with Riesling even though all the guys caught us doing was holding hands?!”

“Adeline, if it makes you feel better, Sage and I genuinely hate touching each other past high fives and kicking each other in the butt. I want nothing to do with stealing your girlfriend. Like, she’s all yours. You can keep her forever.”

“Is that your way of giving her your blessing to date me? Because that was the lamest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Riesling grinned and shoved Sage. “Just go to first hour and try not to get a detention for hugging your girlfriend for too long in the hallway, okay?”

“Yeah, because god forbid we actually date each other.”

Riesling tapped her nose and walked off in the direction of her own first hour class, flipping Sage off when the blonde girl blew her an obnoxiously loud kiss.

“You two have one of the weirdest relationships I’ve ever witnessed.” Adeline confessed.

“Awe, babe.” Sage turned back to her and simpered. “Are you jealous?”

“Of Riesling?” The brunette gave her a flat look. “She’s literally from Indiana. Why would I be jealous of her?”

“Because she’s my closest friend at this school, even though we hate each other.”

“What about Ella?” Adeline asked as they started off to their first hour together.

“Ella and I have always had a more platonic relationship. Or at least, it appears that way to the casual observer because Ella has long hair, and Riesling cut hers in eighth grade, so obviously she’s a lesbian.”

“Of course. What else could she be?”

“Straight. Very very straight. Like, depressingly straight.”

“You say that like you want to date her.”

“That’s so gross, never say that again.” Sage protested with a bout of laughter. “I can’t believe you said that. Ew. Betrayed by my own girlfriend.”

“That’s how I show my affection. I just softly betray the people I love.”

“Oh god, that’s awful.” Sage broke out into giggles. “Seriously, Addy, it’s too fucking early for this. My head still hurts.”

“Awe.” The other girl cooed sympathetically. “Maybe if I kiss it, it’ll feel better.”

“Maybe if you’re thinking about kissing me, you should take me on another date first.”

“Maybe it’s not technically me taking you on another date if you took me on the first one.”

“Touchè. By the way, are you doing anything tonight?”

“Are you asking?”

“I might be. There’s someone I want to introduce you to.”

“Sage, honey, I’m not ready to meet your parents.”

“Oh, belive me, _I’m_ not ready for you to meet my parents. No, it’s someone else. My brother. I want you to meet hiim because he was secretly dating his boyfriend for five months before they told me, so I want you to meet him as soon as possible to get my revenge.”

“... By being the better sibling by introducing us immediately?”

“Exactly! I knew you’d understand.”

Adeline laughed. “I am actually busy tonight, but I’m not tomorrow, if that works for you?”

“Great! That’s... great. Um we’ll probably meet at that cafè we went to on our last date, actually. Does that work? Do you know how to get there?”

She grinned. “I’m sure I can figure it out, darling.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	47. Important Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternatively titled: Meeting the Queer Basically Parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Emma because she's amazing and I love her.
> 
> Have a cute chapter where Addy meets Sam! Sam and Aerin are the queer parents we all wish we had.

To Riesling: _How close are Sage and her brother? How badly do I need to make a good first impression?_

Adeline chewed her lip nervously as she stood in front of her closet trying to decide what to wear. She’d already touched up her light school makeup and now she just had to pick an outfit. Was it a bad idea to wear something nicer to meet her girlfriend’s brother than she had on their first date? In Adeline’s defence, she hadn’t exactly _known_ that it was a first date, so-

From Riesling: _Pretty close. 7/10 on the ‘good first impression’ scale_

Okay. Adeline wasn’t actually sure if that was a helpful response or not, but with Riesling, everything was pretty hit or miss. Usually missing more than it was hitting, if she was honest. That girl was crazy. And a mess. But she understood why she and Sage were such good friends.

To Riesling: _so what exactly registers as a 10?_

Okay. So a seven. She could do a seven. She _was_ a seven. Ha. Adeline chuckled a little bit to herself as she pulled out a black skirt, a heather grey sweater and a white blouse to layer under it. She put a polka dotted headband in her short hair upon further thought and slipped on a pair of white and brown wingtipped shoes before putting a jacket over her arm and leaving her bedroom.

From Riesling: _Meeting her homophobic birth grandparents._

Adeline winced at the very thought. That was not a situation she wanted to be in. Ever.

To Riesling: _Right. Thanks for the help._

From Riesling: _Anytime._

\---

“Sage, if you don’t stop fidgeting I’m going to tell Aerin to not give you any espresso for the next month.”

The girl gaped at Sam, looking utterly offended. “You wouldn’t!”

“I would. You’ve already finished one coffee and we’ve only been here ten minutes.”

“But! They’re so good! And I’m anxious! And I have an oral fixation! You know this!”

“You’ve got a what?”

Sage flushed bright red as she spun around and came face to face with Adeline. “A- um. I’ve- um.”

“An oral fixation.” Sam grinned at the girl who he was assuming was Sage’s new girlfriend. “Likes having things in her mouth. And talking a lot, as it turns out.”

“Samuel! Shut the hell up!”

He continued to grin unrepentantly and stretched out a hand to the brunette. “I’m Sam, Sage’s brother.”

“Adeline. Sage’s… girlfriend. We’re there, right? We’re naming it?”

“Yeah.” Sage smiled up at her softly. “We’re there. Hey, let me go with you to get coffee.”

Adeline smirked. “Because you need a refill?”

“Hush and let me spoil you more. C’mon.” Sage took her by the hand and led her up to the counter, winking at Aerin. “Can I get a refill, hun? And Addy wants…” She turned to the other girl, not willing to assume that she would want the same thing that she’d gotten a few days before.

“Yeah, hi again, uh, could I have a medium vanilla chai latte?”

Aerin smiled. “Coming right up. Sage, am I going to have to keep track of your intake and cut you off?”

Sage blushed. “No! I learned my lesson on Saturday, okay? This is the last one. After this, I’m coming back for a water. Or a… tea or something.”

“Good. These ones are on the house, girls. Have fun today.”

“But Aerin! I was being the good girlfriend and paying.”

“Well now you don’t have to. Go wait for your drinks and makeout like normal teenagers or something.”

Both girls flushed and moved to the side of the counter where they would recieve their drinks, neither looking the other in the eye, but holding hands.

“You two are actually the cutest. I feel sick.”

“Okay, no.” Sage’s head shot up as she glared at Sam. “I had to spend a whole night with your and your boyfriend making out and being cute and shit. We’re not even to that point yet so shut the hell your mouth.”

Adeline giggled. “Sage, honey, do you just have a love/hate relationship with everyone you know?”

The blonde pretended to think it over for a moment before nodding. “Yeah pretty much. Except for you. I don’t hate you.”

“So you love me then?”

“You’re putting words in my mouth, beautiful. But I’m not objecting to them.”

“So. Cute. I almost feel bad for you.” Aerin piped in, setting down their drinks and shooting Sam a sympathetic look. “Next time, bring your boyfriend to combat it.”

“What, because we’re not just as cute?”

“No, because it’ll make everyone else in the joint implode with cuteness overload.” They winked at him.

“Fair point.” He looked over the pair wandering back to the table, nudging each other and giggling. “I think this will be good for her. No offence to you, of course.”

“None taken. I’m not right for her. Especially not at this point in her life. They’re great together, I’ll tell you that right now.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” Sam sighed heavily as if put upon. “It’s so difficult being the only decent queer parents in town, isn’t it?”

Aerin laughed and shoved him. “Sod off. Go chaperone their date or whatever it is you’re here for. Go be useful. I have work to do.”

“Yessir, Captain sir!” Sam gave them a mock-salute and walked back over to join the girls, giving Sage a shove as he passed them.

Aerin grinned and went back to their work, wondering just when they’d gained so many friends and why they hadn’t done it earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	48. A Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a protective family!Avengers chapter!

“So how’d it go?”

Sage narrowed her eyes at Natasha. “How did what go?”

“Adeline meeting Sam. How did it go?”

“Are you really asking, or do you want to know how much I’ll tell you because you’ll know how much I’m bullshitting because you were secretly there the whole time?”

“Sage. Really. What kind of a person do you think I am?”

“The kind that is a spy.” Sage raised her eyebrows as if daring Natasha to contradict her.

“Alright. That’s fair.” Natasha looked at her nails studiously, as if considering the colour. Currently, her nails were painted a soft lavendar. “Want me to paint your nails?”

“You just want me to tell you new things about my girlfriend.”

Natasha arched an eyebrow at her. “Isn’t that my role as an aunt/amazing older cousin? Really, I have no idea exactly how we’re supposed to be related in this madhouse, but whatever works, I suppose.”

“Fair enough. Did you get new polish?”

The ginger grinned. “Come on, we’ll go up to my floor. If you ask nicely enough, Clint will let you paint his nails too.”

“Ooh! Let’s go!”

\---

“And so, then these two guys, Pasey and Luke, they were walking by, and Pasey goes ‘get a room lesbos’ and so I was like ‘fuck you Pasey,’ ya know? And then-”

“Wait, some fucker at your school said that? Out loud?” Clint looked utterly enraged, which, really, was a very comical look considering the robin’s egg blue that was currently being painted onto his nails.

Sage shrugged, focusing on the tiny brush painting his nails. “That’s just… my school. I mean, it really sucks, but the most you can really do is threaten to do something _actually_ gay, and sometimes that scares them off.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“I get a detention for pretending to make out with my friend in the hallway, or I block out their bullshit. It depends on my mood.”

Clint and Natasha shared a look over Sage’s head. “And the teachers and faculty don’t do anything about it?”

“Are you kidding? The faculty and staff are even more close minded than the students.”

Clint pulled his hands away and rapidly signed at Natasha. _”We should tell Cap. He could do some assembly on tolerance or something.”_

Sage’s brow furrowed. “Not fair. Rude, Clint. Come on!”

He grinned at her and patted her head with the hand that was dry. “We still love you, Sage. Don’t worry.”

 

“Ruuuuude.”

\---

“Cap. We need to talk.”

Steve looked up at the vent above his bed where he and Bucky were currently lying. “Clint, we’ve talked about this. That’s literally the worst place for you to be. Especially right now. It’s midnight!”

“I didn’t realise you went to bed early, sorry grandpas. But seriously. It’s about Sage.” He dropped from the vent and quickly scrambled off of their bed, resolutely not thinking about what he could have landed on and only making eye contact. He was definitely _not_ looking at Captain America’s pecs, nosiree. Goddamn, they were so fit. No! Bad Clint! Sage! “She told me and Tasha today that apparently she’s been dealing with some major homophobia at school. So, Nat and I were thinking. What if America’s golden boy went and gave them a talk about how shitty homophobia is?”

“Clint.” Steve’s voice took on a warning Captain’s Tone.

“No, Stevie. Think about it. He’s got a point.”

“I am not going into a Christian academy with a talk about tolerance and saying ‘hey kids, homophobia is a shitty thing and you shouldn’t do it’. That’s literally going against the entire point I’m trying to make and spitting in their face.”

“Why?”

“It’s a Christian establishment, Clint. I’m not going to walk in, talk about tolerance and then swear. Do you see the issue there?”

“Okay… Maybe. But still!”

“Steve…”

“Look. I’m not saying I won’t think about it. I’ll talk to Pepper, see what we can do, okay? It’s definitely something that needs to be dealt with. Do Tony and Loki know?”

Clint shrugged. “Nat’s going to talk to them now. So if they didn’t, they certainly will. Maybe you and Stark can both go. Give a ‘superheroes accept everyone no matter what’ speech. I would sit through it.”

“Yeah, because you’d be scoping out the little assholes who said that stuff to Sage and shooting spitballs at them, don’t play innocent, Barton.”

Clint grinned and pointed at Bucky. “You’ve got me there.”

“Go away. We’ll deal with this in the morning.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya.” Clint walked toward the elevator, faintly hearing the super soldiers whispering to each others and turning down his hearing aids just as a precaution. They probably wouldn’t try to continue what he’d caught them at the tail end of, but really, one could never be too careful.

\---

“She’s WHAT?!”

Natasha nearly rolled her eyes out of her head at Tony’s reaction. Yes, this was a big deal, but honestly. Did he have no decorum? Why had she let Clint go rouse Steve and James again?

Right. Because the last time she’d tried that they’d been fucking each other within an inch of their extended lives. Maybe Stark wasn’t quite so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	49. A Friendly Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cap holds a tolerance rally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written at two in the morning because of my girlfriend. I'm sorry. It's probably bad.

“So, did you hear what’s happening?”

Sage turned an uniformed raised brow on Adeline, who laughed.

“That’s a no. Alright, I’ll tell you then. We’re holding some kind of pep rally or something, and Captain America is coming to speak.”

If Sage had been taking a drink, it would be all over the inside of her locker. As it was, she had to be careful not to give everything away in her expression. “He’s doing what?”

“He’s speaking at our assembly on Friday.”

“Hmm. Interesting. That’s really… Interesting.”

Adeline gave her a confused look. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that you didn’t want Captain America to come give us a speech about truth, justice, and the American way.”

Sage broke finally, letting out a snort. “Oh, no I would never not be excited about that. Because the American way does so much for everyone. God, whatever would we do without it?”

Adeline giggled and elbowed her in the side. “Don’t be a wiseass. Or at least, don’t do it at school, because damn, it’s hot.”

“Dork.”

“Cutie.”

Sage flushed. “Addyyyy. We’ve talked about this.” She whined, avoiding eye contact with her girlfriend while she pulled books from her locker.

“Yeah, we have, I’m sorry. You’re just so damn adorable when you blush.”

“Addy! Stooooop!”

The brunette grinned.

\---

“Do you have any idea what this assembly is about?” Riesling asked, sitting down beside Sage on the bleachers. “Because all I heard is that Captain America is coming, and he’s not even my type, but have you seen that ass? Just makes a girl stop and think, ‘God bless America’.”

The three girls broke out in giggles.

Steve, who was standing on the other end of the gymnasium, flanked by both Bucky and Tony, immediately located Sage. She was sitting with two other girls, one whom he recognised from Tony’s awful powerpoint, the other who must be Riesling. They were all laughing at something that one of the girls had said, and they looked happy.

Tony was in a stormy mood, scanning the crowd looking for any boy who looked like the ones who were assholes to his daughter and ready to blast them into oblivion. Bucky was just standing there, tensing and untensing his left arm, never quite letting the plates settle into one position.

“Okay, students? S-students? Settle down please. Chance, that means you.” The principal tapped on the microphone a couple times, causing Tony to grimace, and glared down one particularly obstinate senior. “Today, we have special guests, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Winter Soldier here to give us a presentation. Please give them your full attention.”

Sage’s hand shot up, and Tony fought against a smirk. “A question already?”

The principal sighed. “Yes, Miss Ahlers? What is it?”

“So, like, is this an interactive experience? Do we get to ask questions througout? Is there a set run time? How many periods are we missing for this?”

“Miss Ahlers, put down your hand and listen to the presentation.”

Sage scowled and kept her hand halfway raised in protest.

“To answer your question, Miss… Ahlers, was it?” Tony leaned toward the mic. “Your student body is allowed to ask questions throughout the presentation, though we aren’t necessarily expecting them. We don’t have a set run time, but I’ll try to eat up as many of your classes as I can.” He winked at her, grinning.

“Great.” Sage had underestimated how difficult this would be. Most of the students here were star struck. Adeline and Riesling were practically molesting her because _holy shit Sage you just basically had a conversation with Tony Motherfucking Stark!_ Right. Some people don’t see Tony on a daily basis. This is a novel thing for some people. _Right._

“What we’re here to talk to you about today, is tolerance.”

Oh god. This was her fault. This was all her goddamn fault. _Clint and Natasha._ Goddamnit. Sage groaned and buried her face in her hands. She was never going to hear the end of this.

Another hand shot up about halfway through their presentation.

“Yes?”

“Are you and the Winter Soldier dating, Mister Captain America?”

Steve froze, and for a moment he had to remind himself that they weren’t in the forties anymore. He no longer weighed 90 pounds, and if he admitted to this, he wouldn’t be dragged out into the street by a lynch mob. This was a safe thing to do. “We-”

Bucky stepped up behind him with a gentle hand in the small of his back. “We are. Have been for just about a hundred years.”

Tony snorted and a couple of the kids cheered. “In case anyone was wondering-”

Sage bit back a “we weren’t!”

“I’m bi too.”

“Bitch, we already been knew!”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to start laughing, both at Tony’s reaction, and just the response in general.

The principal was starting to look uncomfortable, but _they_ were paying _him_ for this, so he’d better keep his damn mouth shut.

“I think that’s our cue to start wrapping up, so I want to say something quickly before we let you go, and then anyone who wants to stick around to chat can feel free. If I find out any of you, and I mean, _any_ of you is being homophobic or transphobic or racist or sexist, I will personally come back and have a _very long_ disccusion with you and your parents.”

Even Tony felt chastised, even though he wasn’t the one that the threat was directed at. Damn, this man was good. “Alright, you guys are dismissed. Miss Ahlers from the beginning, if you come up here for me, you can have candy for being our first question.”

He grinned as Sage’s face lit up and she began fighting through the hoards that were on their way out. He dug a king sized Whatchamacallit out of his pocket that he had been intending to give her anyway, but now he had an excuse.

“Playing favourites, Stark?”

“Always, Buckaroo.” Tony smirked at him and offered Sage the candy bar. “Miss Ahlers. Your questions were delightful.”

“Hey, thanks. It’s pretty cool that you guys could come talk to the school, what will all of your busy schedules.”

Yikes. Low blow.

“There’s always time for educating the young people.” Steve gave her a broad, fake smile and a wink.

“God bless America.” was whispered from behind them, and Steve tried not to cry laughing.

“Oh, Mister Captain America, Mister Winter Soldier, Mister Iron Man, sirs, these nerds are my friend Riesling, and my girlfriend Addy. We really appreciated your presentation, so thanks.”

“Nice to meet you!” The girls chorused while they shook the guys’ hands.

“Any time. If anyone bothers you ladies, I’ll hear about it. I promise.”

“Hmmm.” Sage shot Steve a knowing look, and then turned to Tony. “Thank you guys again. We should get to class.”

“By all means!” Tony motioned them out, turning to Steve and Bucky. “Do you think we put the fear of God in ‘em?”

“Probably not. But I will if those two little assholes so much as _look_ at Sage wrong again.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Down, boy. Let’s settle down and see how things turn out before we jump at highschoolers, huh?”

“You ruin all my fun, Stevie.”

Tony laughed. “I forgot how fun you two were. We should hang out more often when I’m free sometime.”

“That would be great, Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	50. Meeting the Parents?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the Tolerance Speech

“So that happened.”

Sage laughed. “Yeah, it did. Feeling star struck, Addy?”

The brunette shrugged. “I dunno. They seemed like… normal people. I mean, fake presenters, but normal people, ya know? It feels so surreal, Captain America coming to give a speech on tolerance at our ass backwards private Christian school.”

“Yeah, no kidding. And speaking of asses.”

“Good, _God,_ Riesling. Do you never stop?” Sage laughed, giving the other girl a shove. “We get it. You’re an ass girl. Go chase someone else’s and leave us alone.”

“Fine. I know when I’m not wanted.”

“Clearly you don’t, because you’re still here! Hot damn.” Sage grinned as the other girl flipped her off and quickened her pace to leave them alone in the empty hallway.

“Do you think we’ll get a late?”

“Do you really care? Because I was going to duck into the bathroom for a hot second, but if you’re worried about being late-”

Addy smiled softly. “No, it’s fine. I was just wondering. I mean, really, we were just talking to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. They should give us a pass for that.”

Sage chuckled slightly, opening the bathroom door for her girlfriend. ‘You know what would be weird? If I was being fostered by Tony Stark.”

Addy hummed and hopped up on the counter, and _damn_ did Sage want to kiss her. “I mean, it would be cool. Proof that he’s, like, a normal guy, you know?”

Sage scoffed. “Honey, he’s Tony Stark. He’s not _normal._ He’s at least a genius and a half.”

“Okay, if you say so. What brought this up?”

“I dunno. Just kinda wondering how you would react. It was a random situation that popped into my head because, you know, he was here today.”

“I mean, it would be cool. I would probably try really hard not to freak out because he’d, y’know, be your dad and I’d want to make a good impression. I definitely wouldn’t be one of those people who would, like, beg for his autograph, or spy on him for the paparazzi and stuff, because that’s so lame. Also, like, how garbage of a human being do you have to be to do stuff like that?? But yeah. I dunno.”

“Okay. Just, you know. Wondering.”

\---

“I like her.”

“Who?”

“Adeline.”

“Barnes, she literally said all of four words to you, what the hell.”

Bucky smirked at Tony’s disgruntled response. “So you didn’t like her?”

“I didn’t say that, stop putting words in my mouth. Jesus.”

“Bucky, stop making fun of Tony. He’s sensitive.”

“Yeah, I’m- wait.”

The corner of Steve’s mouth lifted even as Bucky broke down in cackles. “Sorry, Tony.”

“No you’re not. America’s Golden Boy my ass. More like America’s Douchebag.”

Bucky started laughing harder, and Steve almost looked concerned that his boyfriend would have a conniption. “God, you two. Like an old married couple.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Barnes, we’ve been over this. I can’t marry Steve, I’m taken. I don’t know why you keep trying to pass your boyfriend off to me, I don’t want him.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya.”

\---

“So, did you have fun coming to scope out and threaten the entire student body of my school today?”

“Yes, we had a lovely time.”

Sage rolled her eyes at Bucky’s indifferent act, squinting at the newspaper in his hand. “That’s last Tuesday’s paper.”

“I’m still getting caught up with the future.”

“Oh my God, you’re so full of shit, I cannot. Steve! Your boyfriend is lying to my face! If you’re going to be America’s Poster Child you should fix that!”

Steve groaned and buried his face in his hands. “I go out in public _one time!”_

Clint cackled from the corner. “You should know better by now, Cap.”

“He’s got a point, you really should. Any action taken is permission for ridicule in this tower, you know that.” Natasha walked in, having just caught the tail end of the conversation. “Why did Steve go out in public? Who let him out? I thought that we all agreed Steve shouldn’t be trusted around other people, he’s a mess.”

Sage laughed. “Yeah, well, _some people_ in this tower don’t know how to keep information shared in confidence a _secret,_ so Steve, Dad, and Bucky ended up at my school today giving a speech about tolerance.”

Natasha returned Sage’s glare unrepentantly. “How did it go?”

“Fine. No one’s going to argue when Captain America is practically married to a dude and both of them have enough muscles to literally tear a guy in half.”

“Hey, that happened to Deadpool once!”

“Clint, how the hell do you know that?”

Bucky laughed again and shook his head, focusing on the newspaper in front of him. “This is a disaster. You’re all disasters. We’re a disaster.”

“Speak for yourself, Barnes. Damn.”

“Clint, actually shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	51. Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sage gets a fever, Tony freaks out.

“Sage, darling?” Loki knocked gently on his daughter’s door, worried that she wasn’t up for the day yet.

The door swung open, revealing a rumpled and pale-looking Sage. “Hey, Papa. Um, can I n-not go to school today?”

“Is something wrong?” He frowned at her, noticing the number of layers she was wearing and the elevated heat of the room. “Has something happened at school?”

“No, it’s not that, I- um.” She blinked owlishly, her brows furrowing as she searched for words. “I’m just feeling really… Foggy? And, um, ‘m kinda cold, and I just don’t feel good, so-”

‘Mister Laufeyson, if I may. Miss Ahlers’ temperature has reached one hundred three degrees. I would advise allowing her to stay at the tower and rest, while keeping a careful watch over her throughout the day.”

“Shit.” Loki muttered, noticing the glassy sheen to Sage’s eyes and the way she was swaying slightly. “Yes, darling, of course you can stay home. Could you do me a favour though?”

“Hmm?” Her head tilted up to show she was listening even as her eyes slid closed.

“Could you come out and sleep on the couch for me? We can bring your blankets out and everything, but to make it easier to keep and eye on you-”

“Mhmm. Yeah. ‘S fine.” The girl turned back into her room, blinking blearily and grabbing her phone, her two favourite pillows, and a few blankets before heading back out and collapsing on the couch in the sitting room. “‘M just gonna sleep, ‘kay?”

“Of course, darling. Sleep all you like.” Loki sat down by her head, carding a gentle hand through her hair as she curled around a pillow and was out like a light. “JARVIS, get Anthony up here immediately, please.”

“Right away, sir.”

A few minutes later, Tony rushed out of the elevator, nearly tripping and falling in his haste to get to Loki and Sage. “What’s going on?! Is she okay?!”

“Yes, Anthony, I believe she is alright. She has a fever.”

“Oh. Hell. Okay. How bad is it?”

“Her temperature has not lowered from the one hundred three degrees that it was when I informed Mister Laufeyson before, Sir.”

“So, do we just… Let her sweat it out? I don’t know how to deal with… sickness.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Anthony, with how terrible your immune system is, one would think that you would know more about how to treat Midgardian illnesses.”

‘Well, yeah, but you know how bad my self-destructive tendencies are. Anyway, let’s call Bruce. He’d know how to fix her, right?”

\---

“Tony, how many times do I have to tell you that I’m _not that kind of doctor?_ I don’t know any more about treating fevers than you do, I haven’t been sick since I became the Hulk.”

“Shit. Is there anyone in this tower who actually does know how to care for a sick child?”

“‘M not a child, Dad. I’m fifteen.”

Tony reached over the back of the couch and patted Sage’s head a bit condescendingly. “I know, sweetheart. Go back to sleep.”

“Don’ wanna.”

“Why not, honey?” Bruce gave her a careful once-over, looking concerned.

“My head hurts. And now I’m hot. And sleeping more will just make my head hurt more. That’s how naps work.”

Bruce frowned. “It really shouldn’t be, but that’s a different issue. Okay, do you want to maybe take off one or two of those hoodies you’re wearing? And then maybe we can get you some ibuprofen?”

At this point, most of the rest of the other Avengers had gathered in the penthouse too, with the exception of Clint, Phil, and Natasha who’d been sent out on a smaller mission.

“Good God, were you all always this useless?” Bucky shouldered his way to Sage, dropping down in a crouch in front of her. “Okay, doll, I’m gonna need you to take off most of these layers, okay? Light clothing is going to be best for you right now so you lose more of your heat.”

“But what if I get cold again?”

“Well, then we’ll bring in more blankets from your bed, okay? But for now, how are you feeling? Do you have the energy to go get changed? You don’t gotta shower just yet, but I think you should change, okay?”

She nodded slightly, brows furrowing as she stood from the couch, still slightly wobbly. “Wanda, will you-?”

The other girl was at her side in an instant, wrapping an arm around her waist and guiding her to her room, ready to help her get changed if she needed it.”

“What the hell just happened.” Tony was staring at Bucky as if he’d grown another head. “Why do you know more about treating a fever than those of us with PhDs?”

The brunet scoffed. “Are you kidding me, Stark? I had to take care of Steve’s scrawny ass every damn time he was sick before the war. Just because he’s a gigantic beefcake with an immune system that could actually process poison and leave him with nothing more than a bad headache doesn’t mean he was always like this.”

Steve grinned sheepishly. “He’s right. I used to get fevers all the time, and bad ones too. Some of those I honestly don’t know how I survived.”

Tony grimaced. “Right, well. Anyone who hasn’t washed their hands yet today isn’t allowed to be anywhere near my daughter while she’s-”

Pietro immediately sped to the kitchen and they all heard running water before he was back in the same position he’d been in as if he’d never left.

“Okay, when she gets back, we need to give her fluids as often as possible, and every time she’s lucid. Keep her warm when she needs it, let her sweat it out when she doesn’t. And ibuprofen or two won’t hurt, especially if her fever climbs more. JARVIS, you’ll need to keep monitoring her temperature and notify us if she gets above 105, capisce?”

“Very well, Sergeant Barnes.”

“That’s it?”

Bucky shrugged. “It’s a fever. Kind of like the common cold, you can’t wave your magic medicine wand and make it go away. Honestly, it’ll be better for her to not take the medicine, but that’s your call, Tony. The quicker she can burn off whatever infection she’s fighting the better, but if her head’s hurting, that’s either the fever or just an overload of sleep that she’s not used to, so it certainly won’t hurt her to take it.”

Tony sighed. “Got it.”

“We’ll get out of your hair so that you can keep taking care of her, but call us if you need anything, okay?”

“Yep. Thanks, Brucie Bear.”

“Anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	52. Miserable Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, the angst train hits again, I'm warning you now.

The next time Sage woke up, she was cold again. She shivered and pulled the blankets laying on her tight to her chin, looking around to see who was sitting with her. She felt a sudden gust of air and then the weight of all of the rest of her blankets off of her bed and hummed contentedly, seeing Pietro sitting on the floor in front of the couch she was on, watching My Little Pony.

“My Little Pony, Pietro, seriously?”

He turned and grinned at her. “You’re not allowed to judge me. How are you feeling?”

“Not so hot. Heh. Because I’m actually cold. Ugh. I dunno bad. Grossly sweaty.”

“Yuck. Here.” He shoved a cup of soup under her nose. “If you can sit up enough, I need you to eat this.”

“Why? I don’t wanna.”

“Bucky said you should.”

“Bucky? The heck does he know?”

“Apparently he had to take care of Steve a lot during the war so he knows more than pretty much anyone here.”

“Ugh.”

“Pietro, you little shit, if you started My Little Pony without me- oh! Sage! You’re awake! _Pietro!_ I told you to tell me when she woke up, dammit!”

Sage smiled weakly as Wanda entered the room, eyes closing gently as the older girl placed a kiss on her forehead. “Hi.”

“Hello, darling. Are you feeling any better?”

“Not really. Just gross.”

The redhead cooed sympathetically. “How’s your head, sweetie?”

“Still hurts.”

“Do you need ibuprofen?”

The blonde shook her head. “Doesn’ work.”

“That… doesn’t sound good.” The twins exchanged a worried look. “Will you drink the soup, please, Sage? It’s chicken noodle.”

She squinted at the soup suspiciously. “Is it from a can? Because that’s the best chicken noodle soup.”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Loki made it. He feels terrible because he doesn’t know how to take care of you since Asgardians do not get sick.”

“Well then he should stop having pushy people babysit me.” Sage grumbled but sat up, draining the cup and then slumping back down, burrowing under the blankets again. “Can we watch Lord of the Rings? I know I won’t be awake for most of it, but please?”

Pietro grinned. “Of course!” He hopped up to put the dvds in just as Sage drifted back to sleep.

\---

By the time Sage was well enough to go back to school it was two days later, and she was _aching_ to see Adeline. Needless to say, she was accosted as soon as she set foot in the school building.

“SAGE!” Adeline practically jumped on her as she pulled the blonde into a hug, nearly smothering her. “Where in the hell were you?! I was worried!”

Sage laughed softly, wrapping her arms around Adeline in return, leaning her head against the other girl’s collar bone. “Sorry about that. I had a fever. Pretty much out cold for a day.”

“Oh no! Are you okay? Are you still sick? Do you need to go back home?”

The blonde laughed again, pulling back slightly from the brunette as she saw a teacher approaching and instead taking the other girl’s hands in hers. “I’m fine. My fever broke really early yesterday morning, so I’m safe to be back at school. Did you miss me terribly?” She simpered at the other girl, hoping for a smile, and she was rewarded when Adeline broke out in a grin.

“So much, babe, you don’t even know. Classes are _so boring_ without you! You’re never allowed to be sick again, do you hear me?”

“Yes sir, Madam Captain sir!” Sage gave her a pretend salute and smiled when the other girl started laughing.

“Rude. Why am I dating you? There’s so much sass in such a little person. How does it all fit in there?”

Sage gaped at her and smacked Adeline on the arm. “How dare! I’m going to class without you. I’m offended.”

“No, wait-” Adeline tried to stop her but couldn’t stop laughing as the other girl stormed off in a huff. “Sage!”

“I’m not speaking with you currently!”

She chuckled again, not entirely convinced that the other girl was really mad at her. 

\---

“Are you really that mad at me?”

“You called me short!”

“I… Didn’t mean it like that?”

Sage scowled at her and continued to eat in bitter silence.

“Sage… Baby, I really didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you’re so damn sassy and it’s adorable. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” Adeline sighed when the other girl didn’t acknowledge her. “Honey, please don’t be mad at you. I haven’t seen you in two days.”

Sage rolled her eyes. “It’s only two days. If we were really dating, you’d have to wait longer than that before you could see me.”

“If we were- what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Sage’s eyes widened as she realised what she’d said. “Shit. I didn’t-”

“So, what, you don’t think we’re ‘really dating’?!” Adeline’s face was turning red as her eyes filled with tears. “Do you actually have an explanation for that, or are you just trying to get back at me?”

“No, Addy- that wasn’t- I didn’t mean-”

“No. No, I’m not-” The brunette stood up, shaking her head desperately, trying to keep the tears from falling. “I’m not continuing this conversation right now. You’ll have to finish lunch by yourself, I’m sorry.” She turned tail and ran, and Sage felt her heart break.

“Goddamnit. Why am I like this?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	53. The Aches of Affection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: ANGST
> 
> Also, if any of you who read this story are the praying type, we had a disaster today ~~technically yesterday~~. A guy who I know - practically my cousins' adopted brother, really - had a very bad accident today. He's, well, he's a bit of a pyromaniac, and apparently one of the rockets (fireworks) he was doing something with ~~what is currently unclear, probably seeing what sort of display it had~~ blew up as he was holding it. All we'd heard at first was that it went off in his hand. We knew he was going to the emergency room, and that was it. As the night's gone on, he's been moved to a major city in my state for better treatment, and he's been in surgery at least twice so far that I know of. At one point, we knew he'd lost one finger, but we didn't know beyond that. The last I'd heard, they were fighting to save his left hand. Thankfully, he's right handed, but he works in construction. So please, just pray that he will make a safe recovery, that he will be alright, and infection won't set in and make everything worse. Thanks, guys.  <3

That day, Sage didn’t go spend time with anyone after school. She went immediately to her room, and only came out to sit at dinner for a few minutes before going back to her room and not letting anyone in.

“JARVIS, what’s going on?”

“Miss Ahlers has asked that I not tell you, Sir.”

“She’s- damn it, JARVIS, tell me what’s happening with my daughter!”

“Truthfully, Sir, I do not know. Although she is exhibiting symptoms of what may be heartbreak.”

“Heart- Sage!”

“Anthony-”

“No, Lokes, she’s-”

“Anthony.” Loki caught the inventor by the arm and held him in place until the shorter man huffed in frustration and looked him in the eye. “She’s not ready to talk about it. If she was, she would have come to either you or me. We have to leave her alone until she is ready to talk.”

Tony glared at him. “Fine. But I’m not letting this continue tomorrow.”

\---

Sage woke up, sick to her stomach, eyes still raw from crying. She didn’t want to go to school, but if she didn’t, Tony and Loki would want to know why, and then Tony would probably want to go and confront Adeline, and she couldn’t let that happen. Not when this was her fault.

She’d been mostly kidding about being offended. It had hurt, a little bit, but for the most part, she’d just been screwing around. And she _certainly_ hadn’t intended to insinuate that she didn’t think she and Adeline weren’t really dating. She did! She’d just meant if they were older and dating in the “real world” like the adults tended to call it-

No. That sounded worse. Was she going to try to apologise today? She had to, didn’t she? It was her fault. Because first she’d been sick, and then she’d pretended to be upset, and then she’d said _that..._

God. She’d fucked up. Big time. How was she going to fix this? “I’m sorry I said our relationship isn’t real, it’s just that until we’re adults who actually know what we’re doing, I don’t think it qualifies because we can’t get married?” That’s bullshit. And not true. And not an apology.

_God._

\---

“Hey, Addy, um-”

“Don’t call me that.”

Sage barely resisted the urge to cringe away from the venom in Adeline’s tone. “A-Adeline, I-”

“Stop talking to me.”

Sage’s throat tightened and she fought back tears. “B-but-”

“I’m not talking to you. I’m trying to focus on my schoolwork. I don’t have time for fake relationships.”

“O-okay, that’s f-fair. You have every right to say that, but can I please-”

Adeline whipped her head around, glaring at Sage with eyes full of hatred. “Ahlers. I told you to _stop talking to me._ Now quit or I’m going to move.”

Sage tried to swallow around the huge lump now residing in her throat and nodded mutely, looking down at the paper in front of her, trying to read it even as her vision blurred with tears.

Sage managed to make it through the rest of the day mostly without crying. Mostly. Chemistry was… difficult. But as soon as she got into the elevator at the tower, the floodgates opened. She asked JARVIS to take her to their floor, blubbering so hard she was honestly surprised that the AI knew what she’d said.

Loki looked up when the door to his study swung open, silently watching as Sage made a beeline for the couch, collapsing on it and sobbing harder. He pursed his lips, wondering to himself how she’d made it across their floor to get to him and magicked up a pot of tea. He poured some into one of the mugs that he kept around for specifically this reason and went to sit beside her, setting the mug down on the coffee table and stroking her hair gently, He waited until her heart-wrenching sobs quieted to sniffles and hiccups before gently lifting her to sit up more while simultaneously leaning her against him, picking up the tea that he’d been making sure wasn’t cooling and offering it to her. “Talk to me, darling. Why are you hurting like this?”

“I- I- I-” More tears pooled in her eyes, and she quickly took a sip of tea.

“It’s alright. You can tell me, I promise. Please, darling.”

Sage sniffled and wiped desperately at her eyes. “Addy and I had a fight. And- and- I- it was my fault, and- I-”

“Shh, shh, shh. Slowly. Drink your tea. It’s alright. Take your time.”

She swallowed some of the tea, and made a little face. “You d-don’t drink this with a-as much sugar as I do.”

He laughed softly and spelled more sugar in. “Try it again.”

“B-better.” She blew out a heavy breath, smiling when he handed her a box of tissues. “S-so yesterday. I got back to school after being out sick, and Addy greeted me at the door. It was- it was great.” Her eyes started swimming again and she grabbed a tissue, taking a quick drink. “And then she made some comment about me being sassy and small, I don’t even know anymore. It was- dammit, it was _so dumb!_ God.”

“Shh, my love. It’s okay. Just tell me. Most things seem ill advised in hindsight, but that does not change them.”

“I- I know. Okay. God. I’m such a fucking mess. Anyway. I- I pretended that I was mad, and so I stormed off and I kind of didn’t talk to her until lunch, which was _fucking stupid_ but whatever. A-and then, at lunch, I told her I was mad because she called me short, which I kind of was, but not like I was pretending to be. And then she said something about how she’d missed me because I’d been gone for two days, which was goddamn _understandable,_ I don’t know why-”

“Darling.’

“Right. Sorry. Fuck. So, a-after she said that, I- I fucking- I said ‘well, if we were really dating, you’d have to wait longer than that to see me.’ I- _God!”_

Loki sucked in a sharp breath beside her. _”Darling.”_

“I know!” This started the tears again, and Sage set down her mug, pulling her knees to her chest and sobbing into them. “I f-fucked up, P-Papa. I fucked up, and she’s p-pissed off at me, and I d-don’t blame her! I d-didn’t mean it like, that b-but I don’t even know what I did m-mean! She w-won’t even t-talk to me or let me c-call her Addy anymore! I don’t know how to a-apologise or how to f-fix this!”

“Oh, my sweet Sage.” He sighed and pulled her into his chest, pressing a kiss to her hair. “You have to try, my darling. Don’t give up until you’ve gotten her to listen. You’ve hurt her, love. She’s not going to forgive that easily, especially if she loves you as much as you do her.”

Sage scoffed, her head buried in his chest. “She doesn’t- w-wait. Love?” She turned wide green eyes up at him. “I- I don’t-”

“Shhh, darling. That’s a discussion for another day. You’ve got to apologise. If she won’t let you do it in person, then sent her a text message, but do it properly, do you hear me? Flowers, chocolate, show her that you _mean it._ Show her that you’re genuine. After that, it is no longer on you, do you understand me?”

Sage nodded pitifully against his chest. “Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?” She whispered, refusing to make eye contact in case he felt like she did.

Loki sighed again. “I think you’ve just had your first lovers’ spat and you’re both heartbroken. I think you’re young and that you’ll heal, but that you need to give each other time and learn from this. I think you need to tell that girl that you love her, and once you’ve gotten her back, kiss her for all you’re worth, because you won’t be young forever, and not every relationship you have will be like this. I think that you need to mark this feeling. Keep it hidden deep inside you somewhere so that you have something to compare all your other heartbreaks to, but deep enough that it won’t affect you all the time. Does that make sense, darling?”

She nodded again, thinking that statement over, continuously flipping it over and over in her mind.

Loki really wasn’t surprised when Sage fell asleep on him ten minutes later. It had clearly been an emotional day for the poor girl, physically, mentally, and emotionally. She deserved the rest. He’d wake her for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	54. An Attempted Apologia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things aren't fixed all the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a less angsty chapter!
> 
> For those of you looking for update, the surgeon was able to save much more of my friend's hand than originally was expected. He was able to save the finger that we thought for certain was lost, and was able to save all but the tips of most of the rest of the fingers on that hand. We're still watching it carefully to make sure that infection doesn't set in and that blood flow is still able to circulate well, otherwise they may have to amputate more as time goes on. We're still in need of prayer, but everything is looking much much better.

From Sage: _I’m sorry._  
From Sage: _That had to be the first thing I told you, because anything else is unfair to you. This is my fault. I accept that. I would like to apologise and try to explain. If you don’t forgive me, I will accept that, too, and move on, but please allow me to try._

Adeline rolled her eyes at the text messages, trying to ignore the ache in her chest. God, this girl wouldn’t give up, would she?

From Sage: _The comment I made was completely and utterly out of line. I did not mean it the way it came across._  
From Sage: _That comment was rooted in years and years of an ingrained belief that highschool relationships never amount to anything, be they romantic or platonic. A belief that dating should only be performed with an endgoal of marriage. A belief that dating should never be done lightly, and that it should not be done until both people are out of highschool._  
From Sage: _That belief is bullshit. Just because highschool relationships are early, doesn’t mean that they won’t last. Just because we’re starting this now does not mean that we aren’t willing to be committed and see it through. Just because dating is serious does not mean that it can’t also be fun, and amazing, and not so damn heavy._

Where was this going?

From Sage: _I fucked up the other day. I never once meant to insinuate that I didn’t think that our relationship was any less real than my parents’ relationship. I never once meant to hurt you like I did. I was trying to have a joke, and I took it much too far._  
From Sage: _I’m so so sorry for that._  
From Sage: _There’s no dating handbook. No guide to tell you ‘this is going to far’ and somedays, I really really wish that there was, because oh boy would I need it._

Adeline laughed a little at that, even as tears ran down her cheeks.

From Sage: _I hurt you. I take responsibility for that, and I’m sorry._  
From Sage: _I like you. A lot. I might even… more than like you, and that’s a scary thought._  
From Sage: _Not because of you, but because of me. If this is what I’m like when I only like you, I’m terrified of what I could accidentally do if I… more than like you._

Adeline’s heart gave a little lurch, and a warm feeling started spreading from her chest.

From Sage: _I’m going to try to apologise properly on Monday._  
From Sage: _Maybe not with words, because I will start crying, and then it feels like emotional manipulation._  
From Sage: _But I will apologise, and if you aren’t willing to forgive me, then I will accept that and move on, no matter how much it breaks my heart, because I did this. It’s my fault, and I understand if you can’t forgive me._

She sighed heavily, and sent back a response.

To Sage: _That had better be one hell of a nonverbal apology._

\---

“Dad, I need your help.”

Tony looked up from what he was working on at the sound of Sage’s voice. “What’s up, Buttercup?”

She rolled her eyes fondly and bit her lip. “Adeline and I got into a fight. I… It was my fault, and now I need to put together a bouquet of flowers that says ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I love you’, and ‘please don’t hate me’ all at once.”

“Man, that is one chatty bouquet.”

“Daaaad! This is important! If you’re not going to take it seriously, I’ll just go ask Steve.”

“No! I’m sorry, I’ll be serious.” He held up his hands placatingly and gestured her forward. “Come on, we can research flower meanings.”

Hours of research later, they decided on a bouquet of purple hyacinths, crysanthemums, violets, and hilighted with baby’s breath. It symbolised asking for forgiveness, honesty, sapphic affection, and love. Tony also insisted on ordering a veritable tower of chocolates from a gourmet chocolate shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana to go with it.

Sage almost argued with him on that, but then she decided that if Tony was supporting her efforts to get back together with Adeline and he wanted to buy her (ex?) girlfriend hella expensive chocolate then she wouldn’t complain.

“Thank you, Daddy.” She leaned her cheek against his shoulder, letting her eyes slip closed with exhaustion. “It’s been… a rough week.”

“Yeah, no kidding. First you get a fever, and then you have a spat with your girlfriend? The universe is after you, kiddo.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I should probably go do my homework. Thank you again for your help.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. I love you.”

“Love you too, Dad.”

\---

Would it be cowardly to leave the bouquet and chocolate in front of Adeline’s locker and run? Yes, yes it would. Was Sage very tempted to do it anyway? She groaned, leaning her head against the wall of the foyer as she waited for Adeline to walk through the front doors. Yes, she really, really was.

“Is that noise because you’ve forgotten something or because you already know that I’ve no intention of forgiving you?”

Sage sprang to attention at the sound of Adeline’s voice, eyes going wide at what she’d said, currently unable to tell if it was a joke or not. “I- I’m- I’m really, really sorry. I- uh. Here.” She held up the flowers and the chocolate, desperately hoping that the other girl would just take them and reject her to put her out of her misery.

Adeline arched a dark eyebrow and surveyed the offerings appraisingly. She slowly took both, taking a deep breath before looking up at Sage. “Whether you meant it or not, it really hurt me when you said that we weren’t in a real relationship, but at this point, I’m already halfway in love with you, and I don’t know if I can protect myself if you do something like that again.”

“If I _ever_ do something like that again, please slap me across the face.”

Adeline laughed softly, tearing up slightly. “I’m not… fully forgiving you. You’ll have to work a bit harder for that, but this is a start. A good one. You’re allowed to talk to me again.”

“Oh, thank God.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	55. Almost Appeased

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Big EventTM happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, guys, this is your last chapter before my hella long hiatus, so you'd better savour it good.
> 
> alskdfjslfjl I'm sorry this is really short and bad, I made a new friend and she kept distracting me from writing  
> On the subject matter of friends:
> 
> 1) I made a friend last week (I love her so much and we're huge ~~bisexuals~~ lesbians for each other but she's stopped responding to my messages and I know she has a bad home life, so if y'all pray, please pray that she's safe and sound and whole.
> 
> 2) thank you to all/any of you who were keeping my cousin/friend in your prayers these last few days. He had another surgery this morning and the blood is flowing to his hand MUCH better than they had expected, so he's able to keep what they were able to save of his hand so far! (He has a whole pinky, they removed the tips of the rest of his fingers, and he does not have nerves in his pointer finger) It's still a long road of keeping infection away as he fully heals and he will have to do extensive physical therapy, but they've sent him home, so this time I'm asking for prayers and praises! Thank you all so much, it honestly means a great deal.

From Sage: _So I was thinking._

To Sage: _Always a dangerous course of action._

From Sage: _hush, you._  
From Sage: _We should have a conversation safe-word. You know, so that if the other person is going on about a topic that we’re either not comfortable discussing, or just unwilling to talk about, we can say it and the other person will know to stop._  
From Sage: _Riesling and I had one while we were watching Hard Candy (NEVER WATCH THAT BTW) it was “lamppost”_  
From Sage: _I was thinking something along the lines of ‘begone thot’ but you can veto that._

To Sage: _I’m definitely vetoing that._  
To Sage: _What about… Baker-Miller? It’s this really lovely shade of pink, and since we’re… y’know, wlw…_

From Sage: _I LOVE IT_

To Sage: _Okay, good. Glad we had this chat._

\---

“Are you two talking again, or do I have to keep pretending that I like Adeline better because Sage fucked up?”

The brunette laughed as Riesling sat down at their lunch table. “It’s good to know that you only support me when Sage is wrong.”

“Hey, I’m a neutral party here. I’m on the ‘whoever’s right’ side.”

“Nice, Rie.”

“Pacifism for the win, baby. So you made up?”

“I think?”

Adeline rolled her eyes. “Mostly. Sage still has some apologising to do, but we’re getting there slowly but surely.”

“I’m sorry, Addy.”

“I know, Sage.”

“I love you, Addy.”

“I-” Adeline spun to stare, wide-eyed at Sage, only to see that the blonde looked just as surprised as she did. “You- you- wait, you- I thought- I know you said that you… more than liked me, but I didn’t realise-”

Sage’s cheeks turned bright red, and she hid her face in her arms. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. I wasn’t even- I mean, I meant it, but- _dammit,_ I had something nice planned out and-”

“You were _planning_ how to tell me that you loved me?! I’m-”

“I didn’t want to say it too early! And I only _just_ got out of hot water with you, do you have any idea how much I would go through to keep you from hating me right now?!”

“That’s a fair point. She’s got a point, Adeline.”

“Shut up, Riesling. Babe.” Adeline took Sage’s hands across the table and waited until she looked up. “You were planning how to tell me you loved me?”

Sage sighed. “Yeah. I wanted it to be sweet and romantic and perfect and for it to happen not to soon to this because I didn’t want it to come across as manipulating you and-” She stopped, stunned into silence when Adeline laid a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

“I love you too, you gigantic dummy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I just thought it was too soon.”

“Me too. Is there ever a not too soon? Is there a dating handbook? I need a dating handbook.”

Adeline laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “I love you.”

Sage smiled, feeling a warm ball of happiness curl up in her chest. “I love you too, Addy.”

\---

To Wanda: _We said ily today asldkfjdslfj_

From Wanda: _OMG!!! Does that mean my favourite lesbians are okay now???_

To Wanda: _bold of you to assume I’m a lesbian_  
To Wanda: _yeah, I think we’re fine. I’m just ahhhhhh y’know_

From Wanda: _rt_

To Wanda: _Wanda you fuckin egg u can’t rt my text_

From Wanda: _fUCK U BITCH I DO WHAT AND WHO I WANT_

To Wanda: _okay woman damn_

From Wanda: _ily_

To Wanda: _ily2_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	56. Loving Precautions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adeline meets Nat and Sam chaffeurs for a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is great and all, but you guys should really go check out the little snippet I wrote about Sage and Addy right [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15186461) because that is also great. ;)
> 
> Also, shoutout to [dapperyklutz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dapperyklutz/pseuds/dapperyklutz) and their work, [Untitled Playlist Number 5](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14731409) which they just finished, (and really it's super amazing) for the idea at the end of this chapter.
> 
> *waves to my internet mums* I'm alive!!

“Hi! You’re… Adeline, right?”

The girl in question looked up in surprise at the sound of her name. She was greeted with the sight of bright red hair and a wide smile. “Um… I am, yeah. Who are you?”

“Oh! Ha, silly me.” The woman laughed and smacked herself in the side of the head before holding out her hand. “I’m Sage’s Auntie Nat! She’s told me so much about you!”

“Oh. Uh, okay, sure. I’m… sorry, she’s never really mentioned you. Which one of her dads is your brother?”

The redhead laughed again, and really Adeline was starting to htink that laugh was fake. “I guess I’m not really surprised. We’re a rather… private family. I’m not _really_ her aunt, you understand. Simply a very old friend of the family.”

“Right. Yeah, of course.”

“Adelynn?”

“Oh, that’s me. Listen, it was really nice to meet you, but I have to get going. Tell Sage that I said hi?”

“Oh, I definitely will.”

\---

“Your girlfriend says ‘hi’. Natasha mentioned off-handedly at supper that night.

Sage narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her. “What did you do?”

“Nothing! We happened to be at Starbucks at the same time, and I simply introduced myself to her. She’s very polite. Definitely suspects something about me.”

“Probably that you’re a liar.”

“Hey, now.”

“Speaking of that girlfriend of yours, Sage, what’s her favourite era of music?” Tony steepled his hands under his chin. ‘She gives off a very ‘faded vintage’ vibe, and I was curious.”

“Oh, she loves sixties music. Especially Paul Anka.”

Tony hummed, “A respectable choice. The more I learn about her, the more I like her.”

“It irritates him to no end.” Loki said, winking at Sage.

The girl giggled into her food as Tony turned to glare at his husband.

“Lokes. We’ve talked about this. What happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom. We don’t bring it up at the dinner table, no matter how much you enjoyed it.”

This was met with a chorus of displeasure from around the island, including Clint visibly turning down his hearing aids and Bucky throwing a roll at tony as Sage turned bright red.

The inventor arched an eyebrow at all of them and smirked as he took a bite out of the roll. “Serves you all right.”

“I didn’t even do anything this time!” Pietro cried.

“The key phrase there being ‘this time’.” Bruce clarified with a grin.

Sage smiled softly to herself as the team all continued to bicker playfully around her, closing her eyes for a moment to soak up the love radiating from each of them.

Loki caught her eye when she looked up again, a soft, barely there smile on his face. _He gets it,_ she thought. Based on many of Thor’s stories about their childhoods on Asgard, her papa hadn’t ever entirely fit in with that war-based society. He’d been an outsider so often, but not here. They wouldn’t let him. For that matter, they wouldn’t let her either, and she loved it. _So much._

\---

“Hey, thanks again for driving us around. I really appreciate it.” Adeline said as she slid into the backseat of Sam’s Chevy Cobalt.

Sage grinned and clambered over the front seat to cuddle into Adeline’s side.

“Sage. Seatbelt.” Sam rolled his eyes when the blonde stuck out her tongue at him, and glared at her until she obeyed. “It’s no big deal. Gives me a chance to keep an eye on Sage.”

“Sam thinks that if he chaperones us, nothing untoward will happen. Little does he know…” She inched her hand extremely slowly up Adeline’s thigh, watching her girlfriend closely for an outward signs of distress or being uncomfortable.

“For God’s sake, Sage. Take the AUX cord and give your girlfriend room to breathe.”

Sage grinned at took the offered cord. “Little does he know, we haven’t eve kissed yet.” She whispered to Adeline, scooting over slightly and handing the AUX cord over. “Play somehting good, babe.” she serruptitiously watched as Adeline thumbed through the music on her phone, a certain playlist catching her eye. 12.18.02. _Her birthday._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	57. [Un]Expected Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More people meet each other!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deadpool doesn't actually really have any significant role in this fic at all. He just likes to pop in every now and again. I can't control him.

It took her a while, but eventually Adeline settled on a playlist titled “Good Time.” The opening notes of Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time” rang through the car’s speakers, and Sage gasped delightedly.

“I love this song!”

“I know.” Adeline smiled at her lovingly, eyes soft.

“You know?”

The brunette gave her girlfriend an unimpressed look. “You and Riesling hae a habit of belting it in the hallways.”

Sage flushed and giggled slightly. “Right. We do do that.”

“You do.” Adeline grinned, her nose scrunching up, and _God,_ did Sage want to kiss her.

“Alright, as much as I love aimless driving, where are we headed, girls?”

Sage looked to Addy. “Froyo?”

Adeline nodded. “Froyo.”

“Froyo it is.” Sam smiled at the two in the rearview mirror. “Are you alright with it if I tell Jason to meet us ther?”

Sage shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“Go ahead. I’d love to meet this boyfriend that you didn’t tell Sage about.”

Sam groaned. “Sage! I thought we were good.”

“We are! I just get Superior Sibling points because you met Addy on, like, our second date. You didn’t have to wait nine months to meet her.”

“It was five!”

“I could have had a child in the amount of time it took you to introduce me to your boyfriend!”

“Five months, Sage! Five months! Not nine!”

Adeline laughed out loud at the pair. “Are you guys sure that you’re not blood related.”

“I wish.”

“Yeah, he wishes.”

“Hey!”

Sage cackled, grabbing the front seats and hauling herself forward to press a kiss to Sam’s cheek. “Love you.”

“You need to be buckled.”

“I am!”

“You need to tighten your seat belt. And don’t pull on my seat.”

The blonde rolled her eyes, stage whispering to Adeline, “I think he’s a fifty-three year old grandfather.”

“What the hell kind of grandparents you got that are fifty-three?!”

Adeline giggled at them.

\---

“Hi! I’m Jason. You… might’ve known that already. At any rate, now you know for sure. Adeline?”

The brunette looked surprised at the hand that was thrust toward her, but shook it, afterward turning to Sage. “Are you sure he’s not just a human sized puppy?” She whispered, lacing their fingers together as the boys wandered over to the frozen yogurt.

“You know, I was. Now I’m not so sure. Maybe he’s been here for a while already and he’s on a sugar high.” The two giggled at the thought and reluctantly let go of each other to get their own froyo.

“Hey, you two! My treat. Don’t sneakily pay for your own.” Sam made sure that the girls both nodded in assent. “It’s important to seem supportive, you see,” he said to Jason in a wise old man voice, “Because it will lull the children into a false sense of security. And then once they believe that you truly support their relationship… You can prove them right!” He grinned as Jason started laughing at him, heart warming at the sight of his happy boyfriend.

“So, Jason. How long did it take you to get Sam to sleep with you?”

“Sage!”

“So, Adeline. How long did it take before Sage told you that she has the biggest girl crush on Riesling?”

“Samuel!”

“What?” The siblings both turned to their respective significant others looking confused.

“Tact.”

“Respect, you nuthead.” Jason rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry about him.”

“I’m sorry about _her._ ” Adeline grinned at him. “I think we’re gonna end up good friends, Jason.”

“Same here.”

\---

Peter was humming when Deadpool dropped on the roof beside him that day, and the mercenary - much to his own chagrin - thought he recognized the song.

“Green Day, Spidey? Really? I didn’t realise you were so punk rock.”

Peter rolled his eyes, though he knew the man couldn’t see it. “Pool, Green Day is _pop_ punk. God. Get with the times.”

“Shit, Spidey. Where did that _attitude_ come from? You’ve been spending too much time with Stark.”

Peter fought the urge to roll his eyes again and instead shoved at the mercenary playfully. “It wasn’t Green Day, actually. It was a parody. Weird Al.”

Wade gasped. “Spidey! You wouldn’t!”

“What?”

 _”Canadian Idiot?_ I’m thoroughly offended!”

“Sage’s the one who introduced me to it.” Peter mumbled, words muffled even more by his mask.

“Hmm? What was that? Sage was it? Just who is this girl that you’re probably dating and is definitely a bad influence?”

“Bad influence? Really?”

“She taught you a song that bashes Canada! She _must_ be a bad influence!”

“She _isn’t_ my girlfriend. We’re just friends! Besides, Mister Stark would probably never let us-” His eyes went wide, and Peter clapped his hands over his mouth. “I didn’t say that! You- you didn’t hear a word I just said! Please don’t tell Mister Stark, he’ll _kill me._ He hates you so much, and if he finds out I told you about his daughter- SHIT!”

Deadpool burst out laughing, nearly falling off the rooftop. “Don’t worry, Spidey. Your secret crush is safe with me.”

“I’m _not-_ She- she has a _girlfriend!_ ”

“Whatever you say.”

\---

“Hey, Iron Asshole.”

Tony nearly jumped out of his goddamn _skin_ when Deadpool greeted him from the top of his fridge. “What the hell, Wade.”

“Hello to you too, great to see you again. Been a while.”

“You need to get the fuck out of my tower.”

“Why? You don’t wanna catch up? Will I make the new hubby jealous?”

“Please.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Because you have _so much_ to offer me that Loki doesn’t.”

“Exactly! A charming personality, have you _seen_ this rockin’ bod? I mean-”

“Pool, seriously, you have to leave. Now.”

Deadpool narrowed his eyes at the billionaire, noting that the other man looked vaguely panicked and beginning to hear music coming from… somewhere.

Tony needed to get Deadpool out of the tower immediately, because Sage _could_ not _meet Wade._ The girl had taken to having JARVIS stream music to wherever she was lately - and by lately, he meant ever since she’d gotten home from her latest date with Adeline - which meant that as she traipsed about the tower, there was always music following her. Thankfully, right now, that meant that Tony had a warning and a chance to get Wade to _leave_ before Sage walked in, and-

_They all live on donuts and moose meat  
And they leave the house without packing heat  
Never even bring their guns to the mall_

Tony groaned as the song ventured close enough to distinguish the lyrics and Sage burst into the kitchen, rocking an intense air guitar solo.

“Oh my god, she is so precious.”

The girl looked up, startled, and gaped at the sight of the man sitting on their fridge. “Holy fucking shit.”

“That’s the reaction women usually have to me.”

Tony and Sage both loudly voiced their displeasure at that statement, and Wade looked into the middle distance with a put upon sigh. The comment had gone too far. But it wasn’t his fault!

“Okay, my bad. But _jeezus_ kiddo, whaddya have against Canada? I think I should be greatly offended on behalf of my great country.”

“Oh my _god,_ you’re Canadian?”

Wade gave another flat stare at the middle distance, and Sage turned to see if he was looking at something in particular.

“Are you pretending to be on the office?”

“No, but I do like that. I’m just… really, _very_ disappointed in this author, I mean, _everyone_ knows I’m from Canada. You really think this sweet ass could come from anywhere else?’

Sage gave him an unimpressed glare. “Have you never seen Chris Pine?”

“Which one is he? I can never keep them apart. Was that the blonde one in that superhero movie where he played a character named Steve and died by crashing a plane for America in World War II?” Another glance at the middle distance, and-

“No, I’m not going to leave you alone, you know full well that Pine is one of the worst Chrises, you sick fuck. He’s the only one left, but it’s your universe, you’re allowed to take liberties! I mean, _really.”_ Now the mercenary gave Sage what would have been a meaningful glance if anyone had been able to interpret his expression behind his mask. Such a tragedy that neither Sage nor Tony had that skill.

“Who the frickity frack are you talking to?” Sage looked vaguely alarmed now, realising that whoever Deadpool thought he was talking to was clearly not in the room.

“Do you see why I didn’t want you to meet him Sage? Guy’s crazier than a mental hospital.”

“Oh, zip it, Iron Giant. She knows I was talking to her.”

“Me?” Sage pointed to herself, looking more and more confused.

‘No. _Her.”_ He winked at Sage before scrambling off of the fridge. “Anyway, I just wanted to swing by. See all the kiddos. See what fuckups had happened to the timeline. Tell Spidey hi from me, if you see him. Let Hawkeye know that I was here and I left him a present.”

“Wade Wilson, if you left a bomb in my tower, so help me god-”

“It’s not a bomb, Fuckface McGee. It’s just a present. Oh, and tell Pikachu I said hi. Miss those wondrous abs of his. Gotta blast!” He shot Sage a mock salute and did a swan dive through one of Tony’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Jesus Christ, that man drives me to drink.” Tony scrubbed a hand over his face a groaned, leaning on the counter as if in need of support. “Avoid him, Sage. At all costs, do you hear me?”

“Yeah. Sure.” She offered Tony a bright smile and privately wondered just who the hell it was that Deadpool had been having a conversation with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	58. What To Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We have conversations about The MeetingTM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahaha this is like two days late, and I'm really sorry.

“So… I met Deadpool the other day.”

“You did _what?!”_

Sage laughed at Sam’s astonished outburst. “Yeah. He just… dropped in at the tower the other day, spouted off something about being Canadian, talked to the air, and then left. I’m fairly certain that he’s certifiably insane. I like him.”

“Of course you do. Hey, speaking of meeting people, have you talked to Addy about your… parentage situation yet?”

“Ehhh.” Sage waffled her hand back and forth. “Not really? I mean, okay. So, I told you that Cap and CoTM came and gave a tolerance speech at my school, right?”

“Yeah. You also said that you were a little shit the whole time.”

She waved him off. “So Addy and I took a potty break after the assembly-”

“How old are you?”

“Shut up! I’m telling you a story, you little ass!”

“Okay, okay. Sorry. Continue. You took a _potty break._ ”

“I’ll murder you. We took a potty break, and so I casually asked how she would react if, you know, Tony Stark was my dad. She seemed pretty chill with the hypothetical possibility of the idea, so you know. Also, apparently, she met Nat at Starbucks the other day. So.”

“Did she recognise her?”

“I mean, no? I would think that if my girlfriend had recognised Black Widow introducing herself as my aunt, she would have said something to me, right?”

“That’s a fair point.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how to approach it, or when is an appropriate time to bring it up, or how long I can put off telling her without damaging our relationship, because I’m all for not doing more to fuck up our relationship.”

“That’s a good goal to have. Healthy, non-fucked up relationships are a good idea.”

\---

“And, I just don’t know, Pietro! Sam didn’t have any good advice because he’s a nutty bean, and just… not helpful, and-”

“You want my honest opinion?” Pietro propped himself up on one arm so that he was leaning over her, both of them lying on Wanda’s bed, waiting for her to get back from her job at the little sandwich shop down on the corner.

“Well, yeah. Unless it’s a dumb honest opinion, in which case, keep it to yourself.”

Pietro laughed and shoved at her. “I think you should introduced her to the team progressively. Like, she’s met Sam. That’s chill. She’s cool with that. She’s met Natasha, and she didn’t recognise her. Maybe next she should meet Phil or Clint. Or. I don’t know. Me?”

Sage grinned and rolled her eyes. “You just want to meet her.”

“Of course I do! We have a pact, Sage! A pact!”

“Ugh. You make me regret all of my decisions, Pietro.”

“Shut up. You love me. Can I meet your girlfriend yet?”

“I _do_ love you, but Jesus Christ. If you get to meet her, then Wanda gets to meet her too, that’s the rule, I’m not completely stupid.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hey!” Sage wasn’t entirely sure if her outburst was because she was offended at Wanda’s comment, because the other girl had walked in, or because Pietro had practically trampled her on his way to give his sister a hug, but any way it was deserved.

“Hello, darling.” Wanda walked over and kissed her on the forehead. “Have you had a good day, spending time in my room without me?”

“Well, I wasn’t in here all day. I came in because Pietro said that he desperately needed help with something, come to find out that he just needed someone to talk to because he’s needy.”

“I am _not- _”__

__“You really are.” Both girls silenced him with a look, Sage giggling._ _

__“Anyway, how would you like to meet my girlfriend next week?”_ _

__“Oh? Are you there already?”_ _

__“Well, Pietro suggested that I start introducing her to people gradually, and he’s desperate to tell me that he approves of her.”_ _

__“Of course he is.” Wanda shook her head disappointedly at her brother. “I’m alright with it. Just let me know so that I can ask for the afternoon off, alright?”_ _

__“Okay.” She smiled up at the other girl and smacked Pietro in the butt. “Did you hear that? Next week. Think you can manage to wait until then?”_ _

__He sighed heavily and flopped back onto the bed, half of his body draped across Sage’s, supressing a grin and she groaned melodramatically. “I suppose that will have to do. Whatever will I do until then?”_ _

__“You could… I don’t know, clean my room, since you seem to spend more time in it than I do.” Wanda suggested, wincing and rolling her eyes when Pietro sped through the task and then returning to slump on top of Sage once more. She patted the blonde gently on the head. “I’m sorry that my brother is such an annoying idiot. I’m going to go get some food from the common floor kitchen. Requests?”_ _

__“Cheez-its?” Sage asked hopefully from underneath Pietro._ _

__Wanda laughed. “Sure thing.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	59. An Important Discussion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh... You didn't think that _you guys_ got to see Adeline meeting the twins this week, did you?

“Is it weird if I’m kind of scared for you to meet my parents?”

“I-”

“I mean, it’s not that I’m worried that they won’t like you or vice versa, but there’s just this part of me that’s like ‘they won’t get along and you’ll have to choose’ and I really don’t want to have to do that. If I end up having to choose between you or my dads, I think I’ll just have to, like, never talk to any of you ever again, and really that would be such a pity. I guess you can’t ever meet my parents, just in case. Want to meet my cousins instead?”

Adeline blinked at Sage incredulously. “We’re in the middle of math class, babe, what in the world?”

The blonde shrugged, scribbling down homework answers. “I dunno, it was just a thought. I wasn’t really serious about the not meeting my parents thing. I _was_ serious about the meeting my cousins thing, though. Would you be okay with that? Like Thursday afternoon at four? You don’t have plans, do you? Because I kind of promised them that they could meet you, because Pietro and I have this pact that he has to approve of someone before I date them, and I have to approve of someone before he dates them, and if you meet Pietro, then you have to meet Wanda because you can’t meet one twin without meeting the other one, and-”

“Sage.”

The bell rang and Sage scrambled to put everything away and shove it all in her bookbag, only looking up once she’d stood and started toward the door, spinning around and seeing Adeline still sitting at her desk. “Come on, I don’t want to be late.”

The brunette rolled her eyes, sweeping her things off of her desk and standing all in one smooth motion. “We’re not going to be late. And we need to talk. Bathroom, now.”

“But-”

“Nuh-uh. Bathroom.” She walked past Sage determinedly, and the other girl groaned.

“If you make me late, I’ll have a detention!”

“You will not, you haven’t been late yet this quarter. I walk to class with you every day. Get over yourself, drama queen.”

“Fine. What is it? All I did was ask if you would meet my cousins!”

“You also told me that you have this latent fear that your parents will hate me or vice-versa, that your previously never mentioned cousins are twins, and that you have a dating veto policy with one of them. And I’m just supposed to say ‘yeah, I’m free on Thursday, where are we going’?!”

Sage had the sense to look sheepish. “Yes?”

“Sage. This isn’t going to work if we don’t communicate. This?” She motioned between the two of them. “This isn’t communication. I know that we can’t discuss this in a school bathroom, and I know that we need to go to class, but seriously, we need to have a talk.”

The blonde groaned but nodded. “Can we go to class now?”

An incredulous laugh burst from Adeline’s chest. “Yes, Sage, we can go to class. God.”

Sage held open the bathroom door for Adeline, not meeting her eyes, and very quietly saying as the other girl walked past her, “I love you.”

Addy’s eyes softened at the whisper, and she turned, grabbing Sage’s hand and lacing their fingers together, swinging their hands gently. “I love you too. But seriously, communication.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Me too, baby.”

\---

“So? Communication?”

Adeline huffed a laugh and grabbed Sage’s hands across the table, running her thumbs over her knuckles. “Is that why you asked me out immediately after school?”

The blonde shrugged, eyes glued to their hands. “I really _do_ want you to meet Wanda and Pietro. And it’s _not_ just because he and I have a veto pact. I just… I want you to meet my whole family, I do. And I want to meet _your_ family. But my family is… a lot. I’m trying to wean you in.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that before?”

“It sounds dumb out loud.” Her sentences were being delivered quietly and quickly, some words blurring together, and mumbled. It would have been nearly unintelligible if Adeline hadn’t been listening closely.

‘It doesn’t, honey. It really, really doesn’t. It’s reasonable. I’m not ready for you to meet my parents yet either. It’s _okay_. But you have to talk to me about it, yeah? And I know that sometimes talking is hard, but part of dating is making that effort.”

“Yeah. I know. I just… Didn’t really think about all of what I said earlier before I said it? I’m… really bad about that. I just talked, because I remembered that I told Pietro that he could meet you, and he was really excited about it, and so I just let words come out of my mouth, and I wasn’t paying attention to what words they were. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you.” She pressed a gentle kiss to Sage’s knuckles. “As it happens, I _am_ actually free Thursday, and I would love to meet your cousins. As long as we can meet in a park, and I can bring someone for you to meet too. Deal?”

Sage grinned widely at her. “Deal. Will you tell me who it is?”

“No, it’s a surprise. But I promise that you’ll love him. I one hundred percent promise.”

“Oh, man. A one hundred percent promise. That’s intense.”

Adeline winked at her. “So tell me about your cousins.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	60. [Somewhat] Extended Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I PROMISE THERE IS MORE OF THIS SCENE COMING, I'M NOT SHORTING YOU LIKE I DID WITH NEW YEAR'S
> 
> ALSO I'M SO SO SO SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER IS SO LATE THERE'S A LOT GOING ON RIGHT NOW ALSDKFJSDF

“Mom, I’m taking Ralph for a walk. I’ll be back later, okay?”

Adeline’s mom looked up, offering her daughter a smile. “Sure, honey, have fun. Oh, actually, would you mind taking Eddie too? I’ve got some work I really need to get done, and it would be really helpful if you could watch him for a bit just so I can buckle down on it.” Her eyes hadn’t stayed on Addy long, quickly returning to the laptop in front of her.

Addy bit her lip, gripping Ralph’s leash tighter for a moment before closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, her mom was looking at her, and Addy instantly felt guilty. “It’s just that- I was sort of planning to meet up with Sage while I was out.”

“Well, why can’t Eddie come along too?”

“It’s not that he _can’t_ come, Mom, it’s just-”

“You don’t want your girlfriend to meet your little brother?”

“Mom! I didn’t say that!”

“Well, I didn’t say that you did, Adeline, but it seems like-”

“Okay! God. Eddie can come. Whatever.”

“No, Adeline, if-”

“Look, I already said that I’m taking him. You got your way. Now drop it, okay? Please?” She saw her mom’s eyes narrow, and god _dammit_ she wanted more of her mom’s attention, but not like this. “I’m sorry. I’ll take Eddie along on my walk, and I’ll get him hot chocolate. Is there anything else I need to get while I’m out?”

“No, it’s fine.” The eyes were back to the computer, and it’s like their nearly-fight had never existed. Ugh.

“Eddie! We’re going on a walk! Come on!”

“I’m only going if Ralph comes too!”

Addy groaned and walked down the hallway to her little brother’s room, unsurprised that when she opened the door, Eddie was curled up with Ralph on his bed, watching PJ Masks. “Aren’t you a little old for this show?”

“Yeah. Why do you care?”

“Buddy, can we please just go on a walk? I was gonna take Ralph anyway, and Mom wants you out of the house so that she can ignore her real responsibilities and ‘do work’.”

“Ugh, fine. Why are we going on a walk, though?” He stood up and nudged Ralph off of the bed, grinning when the dog trotted over to Addy and jumped up on her. “I thought you hated walks. And, it’s like February.”

“Yeah, well.” She looked him up and down sheepishly. “Bundle up, I guess. I didn’t actually think about that. I’ll explain on the way?”

“Okay, I guess. Aren’t your legs going to get cold?” Eddie looked pointedly at her skirt.

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up, you little punk. I’ve got thick tights on, I’ll be fine.” She ruffled his hair and pulled his coat from the closet. “Come on, you get to meet my girlfriend today.”

\---

Sage stood, shivering and rubbing her hands up and down her arms as they waited for Addy in the park. “I don’t think either of us actually thought about the fact that it’s kind of February.”

“Kind of? It’s February third! It’s fucking cold, Sage!”

Wanda rolled her eyes at her brother’s outburst.

Sage watched slightly warily as she waved her hands at both of them, but once the other girl was done, she instantly felt warmer. “What did you do?”

“I made your brain think that it was warm instead of cold.”

“Um. Does this mean I’ll be really hot if we go inside?”

“No, you’ll readjust after a while. Don’t worry. Tell me if you get cold again, though.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She grinned at Wanda and resumed looking for her girlfriend. “Oh my god, look, it’s a puppy. Oh my god, he’s with a cute girl. Oh my god, that’s _my_ cute girl! Addy!”

The brunette’s head shot up, and she grinned and waved, turning to say something to a little boy who was walking alongside her. He laughed and jogged forward ahead of Adeline.

“Hi! I’m Eddie. You must be Addy’s girlfriend.”

Sage giggled. “Yes, I am. Hi, Eddie, it’s very nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. Are these your cousins?”

“Yep! This is Wanda, and Pietro.” She pointed to each of them in turn, straightening up to give Addy a hug as she drew closer. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself. I think you found the only spot in this park that isn’t cold as hell.”

“What can I say, I’m just that good.” Sage winked at her, and mouthed a _thank you_ at Wanda. “So, these are my cousins.”

Pietro shouldered his way to right in front of Adeline and looked her up and down appraisingly. “I suppose I approve. I think at this point, Sage would kill me if I didn’t.”

Addy smiled at him as she heard Sage mutter _damn straight_ to her side. “Well, I’m glad you think so. What say we all go get some hot chocolate?”

“Yay! Come on, Ralph! Hot chocolate!”

Sage smiled at Eddie’s reaction and looped her arm through Addy’s, side-eyeing Pietro. “So, were you intending to introduce me to Eddie, or Ralph?”

“Ralph. Eddie came along because Mom had work to do. Please don’t ask.”

“Alright, I won’t.” Sage slowed them down slightly so that she could look Addy in the eye. “Are you okay?”

The other girl smiled softly. “Amazing now. Come on, I think they’re getting antsy.”

Sage looked over at Pietro, who was practically vibrating, and laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	61. Triple Date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations for the Russian can be found [here](https://thatwritxrgirl.tumblr.com/post/177177419354/translations-for-russian-in-chapter-61-of-family), and I will link the same post at the first bit of Russian, so you don't really have to worry about going there yet. :)
> 
> Just so that everyone knows, I love this chapter a whole lot. It's dedicated to [Lily](https://remorse--less.tumblr.com) because I love her, and she's been reading this the past few days. :)

“So, are we allowed to call this a triple date? You and me, Eddie and Pietro, Wanda and Ralph?”

Sage laughed and rested her head on Addy’s shoulder for two seconds before she had to move again because they were walking. “Sure. Let’s do that. Do you think we can find a place that will let Ralph in while we get hot chocolate?”

“Actually, yeah! There’s a little place about a block or two from here where they let dogs in.”

 

“Wait, really?”

“Yep. We go in there sometimes when we’re taking Ralph on a walk and we need a drink.”

“Well, then. Lead the way, m’lady.”

Adeline glared at her. “Sage, you’re my girlfriend and I love you, so you get a pass for that one. The next time you say that word, I will bitchslap you into next year.”

Sage tried to repress her giggles. “Noted.”

\---

“Ralph, sit. _Sit_. Good boy!” Eddie rubbed the dog furiously behind the ears when he obeyed, turning a bright grin on Pietro. “See, I told you he listens to me!”

The girls all shared a look and a small smile, because the boy was adorable.

“Good job, buddy.” Pietro winked at him, and then turned to Adeline. “So, what exactly are your intentions with my baby cousin?”

Sage groaned and buried her head in her hands as Adeline laughed. “Pietro.”

“What? You know that your dads will ask. I’m just trying to prepare her for the dating interview. Otherwise, they will destroy her.”

“Oh, gee, thanks. I’m glad that you think that I can’t hold my own, Pietro.”

“I didn’t say that. But you don’t know her dads.”

“You’re right. But I’m not worried. I love Sage, and Sage loves me. Even if they don’t approve, we’re dating, and that’s all she wrote. If that changes, then that changes, but that’s between Sage and I, not anyone else.”

Sage smiled softly and laced their fingers together. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Wanda wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes. “You guys are gross.”

“Pietro?” Eddie tugged on the older boy’s sleeve, staring up at him intently.

“Yeah, Eddie? What’s wrong?”

“Are you the really fast guy that fights with the Avengers? Because you look just like him.”

Sage could’ve _sworn_ that she felt her heart stop beating. She willed herself not to whimper as Addy turned to look at her. “Well, Eddie, you see-”

“Yeah, I am.” Pietro grinned broadly as if he couldn’t see Sage _dying_ directly across the table from him. “Wanda usually fights with us too!”

Sage slowly dropped her head onto the table, and was tempted, _oh so tempted_ to start beating it against said hard object. “Pietro-”

“What?”

[“Она не была готова сказать ей, идиот.”](https://thatwritxrgirl.tumblr.com/post/177177419354/translations-for-russian-in-chapter-61-of-family) Wanda hissed at her brother, running a hand up and down Sage’s back soothingly.

“Как я должен был знать?!”

“Язык тела, Пьетро.”

Pietro groaned and glared at his sister.

“Sage?”

“Yeah?” Sage slowly lifted her head to look at Adeline, trying not to let her anxiety show on her face.

“Will you come with me to the bathroom really quick? I just- I’ve gotta pee.”

“Yeah, of course.” She offered her girlfriend a tight smile, and made quick eye contact with Wanda, trying to relay that it was alright.

“What’s up? Or did you actually have to pee?”

“Your cousins.”

“Yeah?” Sage felt the panic rise in her throat, but tried to stay calm. “Is this because they’re Avengers? Because I can explain-”

“When you asked me what I would do if Tony Stark was your dad, that wasn’t a hypothetical question, was it?”

“Um…”

“Sage.” Adeline pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “We _just_ had a conversation about communication, and you’re doing it again. I-”

“No! Wait, okay? I didn’t mean for it to happen like this. This was not planned at all, and I was genuinely going to tell you, okay?”

Addy fixed her with a skeptical look. “Explain.”

“I wasn’t sure how you would actually react to my entire family being made up of the Avengers, okay? So I introduced you to the non-famous ones first - Sam, and Aerin. Then Pietro told me to maybe start introducing the rest of them to you slowly, to see if you recognised them or not, because Natasha said that you met her, and you didn’t recognise her. I _was_ going to tell you about Tony and Loki before you met them, or Thor, or Bruce, I promise. I just didn’t know if you would know about Pietro and Wanda, and I was trying to avoid you freaking out as much as possible, because I love you, but in the back of my mind, I’m still terrified that since you found out that Tony Stark is my dad, you’re going to, like, ditch me because he used to be awful, or use me to get to him, and I _don’t think_ that you would do that, but-”

Addy finally got fed up with the other girl’s rambling, and yanked her forward, pressing their lips together firmly.

Sage’s eyes widened, as her brain gave a screeching sound and a blue screen of death, and then closed them as quickly as she’d flung them open, hands fisting in Addy’s flannel.

They broke apart, both panting slightly, Sage raising her eyes to meet Addy’s, looking slightly confused and worried. “I- was- did we just-”

Addy grinned at her breathlessly. “Okay, so I meant to do that at a different, better time, but I guess now’s a good a time as any, right?”

“Oh my god.” Sage laughed slightly, looking astonished, her eyes shining with love. “I love you. But- but we have to talk about this, don’t we?”

“The kissing thing, or the ‘Hi, I’m Sage, and Tony Stark is my dad’ thing?”

“Both?”

Adeline cupped Sage’s face in her hands and leaned their foreheads together for a moment, before pulling back slightly to look her in the eyes. “As for the kissing thing, I’d rather do it more often as opposed to talking about it. Unless that’s an issue for you, in which case we can discuss it for years, and we never have to do it again if you don’t want to.”

“I didn’t say that!”

She grinned again and gently kissed the tip of Sage’s nose. “The parental thing isn’t a big deal to me. They’re your dads, and to me that’s all that matters. That and getting their approval to date you. I don’t care if your dads are Alan Menken and George Clooney, okay?”

Sage started giggling, and put her hands on Adeline’s hips, rubbing the fabric of the other girl’s flannel between her thumb and pointer finger. “Alan Menken and George Clooney? You think? That would be, like an _intensely_ unattractive couple. Like, I don’t think even George Clooney can balance out Alan Menken.”

“I don’t have an opinion on the matter. I’m a useless lesbian. But, hey. I’m serious, okay? I love you. Nothing’s gonna change that. Unless you, like, sing when you sleep, because that’s gonna be a problem.”

Sage laughed again. “I don’t think that’s gonna be an issue. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	62. A Surprising Development

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you guys like this chapter. Huge huge things are coming soon.

Wanda gave Sage a _look_ when the two came out of the bathroom, and the girl shook her head. They were good now. They were more than good. God, was she happy.

“So, what were we talking about? Aside from Pietro being Sonic The Hedgehog?”

“You two being disgusting.” Wanda smirked at her.

“Right. Okay, rude.”

Adeline laughed. “I mean, we were being kind of gross.” She elbowed Sage lightly, laughing again when the other girl flushed.

“Funnily enough, I think that might be even ruder.”

“You love me, though.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I suppose I do, don’t I?”

“You’d better.” Adeline cried, wide grin on her face. “After what-”

Sage’s eyes quickly widened and she quickly put a hand over Adeline’s mouth. “Dear, I thought we agreed not to discuss that. Huh?”

“Oh, riiiiiight. Sorry, honey.” Adeline smirked and pressed a kiss to Sage’s cheek. “I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah. I love you too.”

Pietro wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

Eddie laughed at the older boy.

\---

They’d been chatting for a couple hours in the little coffee shop when Sage’s phone rang with a call form her dad.

Her brows furrowed as she read the caller ID, but she answered anyway, offering the rest of the table a smile and moving slightly away. “Dad? What’s up, I’m kind of in the middle of something. Is it important?”

“Oh, maybe not, I guess it depends on your definition of the word ‘important.’”

“Daaaaaad. Seriously. Wanda and Pietro are meeting Addy, if it’s not something important, then-”

“I just got a call from Pepper.”

“Okay, and? I haven’t even talked to her this week, what does this have to-”

“Sage. The adoption papers got approved.”

“WHAT?” Sage shrieked, immediately covering her mouth in embarrassment, her eyes filling up with tears. “You’re kidding.”

Tony laughed, sounding a little watery himself. “I’m not, kiddo, I’m really not. Do you really think that I would kid about this?”

“Sage?”

She turned to see them all looking at her, concerned, and she couldn’t help the tiny, overwhelmed laugh that escaped her. She waved them off frantically, giing them a slight thumbs up in an effort to keep them from worrying. “So, w- what does this mean? What happens now?”

“The judge still has to sign the papers wtih his approval., so most people do a sort of signing party where the judge signs the papers and stuff. Is that something you would want to do?”

“Um? Yes? I mean, I can’t think of a whole lot of people who I would invite, other than, like, Sam and Aerin and Addy, but-”

“So, she knows then?”

“Yeah, that- that was part of what happened today too.”

“I see. Well, bring her over sometime beforehand. Of course I’d love to meet her in any capacity, or if you want to just invite her for the party that’s fine too. Then I’ll officially be your dad.”

She smiled softly, clutching the phone to her cheek. “You’ve officially been my dad for a while now. This is just taking care of all that legal stuff.”

“Right. ‘All that legal stuff.’ I supposed I should let you get back to all those crazy kids you’re with. Tell Pietro not to be an ass, okay?”

“He’s actually behaving himself today, which, I know is a first.”

Tony chuckled at her. “Alright, well. Go celebrate with them. Kiss your girlfriend. Be a kid, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” She grinned when he laughed again. “Love you, Dad. I’ll see you soon.”

“Love you too, kiddo. See you.”

Sage turned back to the table with a huge smile on her face, dropping into the seat beside Addy and grabbing her by the face and pulling her into a firm kiss.

“What was that for?” Addy asked, laughing as they pulled apart.

Sage grinned widely and turned to face Wanda and Pietro too. “I’ve got some news for you guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	63. The Sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I literally love this chapter so fucking much.
> 
> I hope it comes across as chill as I tried to make it be.
> 
> ((also, I've not actually seen Early Man yet, because I thought it looked dumb. I bawled my eyes out watching Irreplaceable You on Netflix, and I highly recommend it.))

From Sage: _Are you free Friday night?_  
To Sage: _How free do I need to be?_  
From Sage: _Well… The signing party is Saturday afternoon. I… was wondering if you wanted to maybe spend Friday night with me at Sam’s._

Addy bit her lip, considering the proposal. She _definitely_ wanted to spend the night, but getting her mother to agree… That would be an issue.

To Sage: _Yes, I want to. Unsure how the parental unit will respond to the request. Is Riesling willing to cover for me if I say I’m at hers?_  
From Sage: _Probably. Just call her and ask._  
To Sage: _Alright, that’s fair._

To Riesling: _Hey, can I ask for a favour?_

\---

“Hey! Sage greeted her with a grin. “So how’s tricks? Do you think you can do it?”

“Mom said yes as long as I’m at Riesling’s and you’re not there. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Sage rolled her eyes. “Your mom’s gonna end up hating me, won’t she?”

“No. She just has to get to know you, and she doesn’t yet. She’ll love you, I promise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Now come on, I don’t wanna be late to class.”

\---

“Hi, Happy! Addy, this is Happy, he drives me places, but he’s really head of security. Happy, this is Addy, she’s my girlfriend.”

The two made eye contact in the rearview mirror and for a moment just stared at each other. Then Adeline nodded and Happy nodded, and they drove off.

“That was weird, you guys.”

Adeline laughed and pulled Sage into a one-armed hug, smooshing a kiss to her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too. So, the plan for tonight is Sam’s gonna take us to see Early Man, because it looked stupid, so I want to see it. And then, did you ever see the trailer for Irreplaceable You?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Damn. Well, anyway, the trailer made me cry, so if it’s chill with you, we’re gonna watch that after we get back from the theatre, and we can, like, order pizza or make waffles for dinner, or something.”

Addy grinned at her. “That sounds great.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. But we have to put blueberries in the plaid pancakes.”

Sage laughed. “You’re such a fucking weirdo. God, I love you. What if I raise you one, and say chocolate chip blueberry waffles?”

Addy gave her a considering look and stroked her chin thoughtfully, trying not to smile. “I think that may be an acceptable deal.”

“Good, because those are the only kind of waffles Sam will eat.”

Adeline snorted and kissed her temple. “Then I’m glad we came to an agreement.”

\---

Sage was in tears practically before Irreplaceable You even started, and all Addy could do was run a soothing hand up and down her back because Sage was _in her lap_ and, frankly, she was on the verge of tears herself.

Sam walked in to see them wrapped around each other, each girl fighting off tears and rolled his eyes. He picked up the remote and hit pause, not having to wait long for both of them to turn to him with cries of outrage. “Sorry. Look, I’m headed to bed. You guys can either stay out here, or crash in the guest room, I don’t care which. Just try to get some sleep, otherwise Tony will kill me, okay?”

“Okay. Love you, sleep well.”

He smiled at her softly and ruffled her hair a little, laughing when she scolwed at him. “I love you too. Don’t do anything gross on my couch.”

Adeline wrinkled her nose. “I think I should be offended that you think so little of us.”

“Don’t be. He’s just being an ass becuase I’m an ass.” Sage winked at him and pressed a kiss to Addy’s cheek. “Let’s finish the movie. I’ve only got so much energy for crying, and I don’t want to waste any of it.”

They took a while to just… _be_ after the movie was over. Adeline made hot chocolate, and they pulled the leftover waffles from the fridge, Addy toasting hers and eating them on a plate with syrup. Sage just ate them cold, and then, like a monster, dipped one in her hot chocolate, making a face after eating it.

Adeline couldn’t help but laugh at that, despite the tears still drying on both their cheeks.

They just… let themselves _exist_ because what else could you do after a movie like that? They each sat on a different section of the counter, close enough that Sage could still hold Addy’s hand as she ate her waffle, but far enough away that there was no danger of the blonde getting syrup on the sleeve of her sweater.

They went back to the couch after they were done having a snack. Sage put on some Great British Bake-Off, and they spooned on the couch, neither of them quite paying attention to the show, each still caught up in a web of emotions.

Addy’s thumb traced absent circles where it had slipped beneath Sage’s sweater, and the other girl could feel herself drifitng off, feeling safe and content, surrounded by her girlfriend’s arms and smell and just… Addy.

“Babe?” She said quietly, almost afraid to break the silence between them, because they’d slipped into an almost twilight phase of existence, and if she could stay here like this forever, she would. In a heartbeat.

“Hmm?” Addy’s voice was lazy, a little thick with drowzyness, but she propped herself up just slightly on an elbow so that she could look down at Sage. “What’s wrong? Is it the thing tomorrow?”

Sage breathed out what was almost a sigh of relief, because she hadn’t actually had something to say, but now she did. “Sort of. It’s nothing really. I’m so excited for this to be official, you know? But there’s just this tiny part of me that’s terrified. As if, for some reason, they’ll just change their mind at the very last minute and be like ‘sorry, we don’t want you after all.’ How awful do I have to be to still think that?”

Adeline dropped back down and wrapped both arms around Sage, squeezing her as tight as she could. “You’re not awful. You’re human. You’ve got anxiety. That’s normal. It’ll be fine. We’ll do it together tomorrow, huh?”

Sage smiled slightly and snuggled back further into Addy’s arms, closing her eyes against the lump in her throat that swelled and felt overwhelmed, but also felt like finally, _finally_ being home. “Yeah. Together. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Adeline laid a gentle kiss on her neck and then turned her attention back to the tv, deciding not to mention the silent tears that were tracing tracks down Sage’s cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	64. The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first things first. I'm really sorry that I didn't post a chapter this week. I was not taking care of myself well, and my mental health was rapidly declining, and I just needed to take a week. But I'm doing way better now, and I'm actually pretty okay with this chapter! I hope that you all like it and that it isn't another New Year's Debacle (still sorry about that, Mom), I actually like it. :) From now on, I should be posting pretty regularly, but I'm switching update days from Saturdays to just the weekend in general so that I've got a wider time limit to post within, and so that there's less pressure on me if I didn't do well with writing that week. I think that I've got the next several chapters written already, but I might have to write something different for this next chapter before diving in to all the prewritten stuff. Thank you so much to everyone who's still with me on this ride, and to all the newcomers - Welcome! I hope you've been liking it. :)

Addy hadn’t let go of her hand since they’d stepped foot outside of Sam’s car, and if Sage didn’t know better, she’d say that her girlfriend was actually just squeezing incrementally tighter as they got closer and closer to the penthouse.

“Psst. Hey.” She got Adeline to look at her, smiling softly at the vague worry in the other girl’s eyes. “I love you. We can do this, yeah?”

 

“Yeah.” She offers a small smile, rolling her eyes when she catches Sam grinning at the two of them. “Fuck off, dude.”

“I will not! My little sister finally has something good going on in her life- a lot of good things actually, so no. I will be happy, and you both will deal with it. Bite me, Adeline.”

“You’re not quite my type, sweetie.” She winked at him and laughed when Sage let out a startled laugh.

“So what you’re saying is that you would definitely bite me.”

“Only if you asked, babe.”

“Oh my god, okay. I get it. Stop.” Sam made a disgusted face as Sage cackled.

The doors to the elevator slid open, and Sage couldn’t help rushing ahead of Addy and Sam, pulling Loki and then Tony into huge hugs. “Hi.”

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Hello, darling. How was your night?”

Sage rolled her eyes. “It was fine. We watched Irreplaceable You and cried, if you must know.” She turned back to see Addy a step behind Sam, who was- of course. He was talking to Thor. Typical. She walked back a few steps and took the other girl’s hand, gently pulling her forward. “Dad. Papa. This is Addy.”

“Hello.” She held out a hand to shake, trembling nearly imperceptibly. “It’s great to finally meet you.”

“You too.” Tony shook her hand fervently with a huge grin, winking at Sage.

 

Loki was more reserved. He shook her hand carefully and respectfully without doing that awful delicate maiden handshake. “I am glad that Sage has finally brought you around to meet us. You seem to make her very happy when she’s not just said something unintentionally idiotic without thinking.”

Sage flushed furiously, and Tony looked at his husband and then his daughter, looking completely confused. “Wait, what-”

“It’s not important!” Sage cried, mock-glaring at Loki. “It’s not anything that needs to be revisited, thank you very much.”

Addy smiled and took Sage’s hand again, squeezing it gently. “Yeah, well. She makes me happy when she’s not saying stupid shit too.”

“Oh my _god_ , this was a mistake. I’m never letting you come over again, all you people do is make fun of me. If it makes anyone feel better, I’m happier when I’m not being a fucking moron too, so.”

Sam laughed from across the room, and she turned to glare at him, scowling when he winked.

“Okay, wow. I’m being attacked at my own party. I’m never inviting any of you anywhere ever again.”

“Wow, I haven’t even done anything yet and I’m banned for life. My reputation must precede me.”

Sage spun around and shrieked in delight, rushing to give Aerin a hug. “Hi! I’m so glad you made it!”

“You didn’t think that I’d really pass up an invite to your adoption party, did you?” They grinned and hugged her back, nodding to Tony as they separated. “Mister Stark. Glad to finally meet you when your team isn’t stalking me.”

Tony had the to look sheepish. “About that-”

Sage rolled her eyes at him, giving Addy a little wink. Then she spotted the figure standing behind Tony and Loki and grinned. “Addy, this is Judge Lingren. He’s been the one overseeing this whole thing.”

“Hello.” Adeline smiled at him. “I feel like I should thank you for helping my girlfriend find her family.”

“Well,” he returned her smile, pulling Sage into a side hug. “This girl has been through a lot. I’ve seen her file, even if I haven’t been a part of all of it. I’m glad that I could help her. And I’m glad that she found you.”

Sage grinned at the two of them and Tony walked over.

“Well, Judge, everyone’s here. What say we get this show on the road?”

The older man chuckled. “Of course, Anthony.”

They walked over to a table where the documents were sitting on the table, a pen sitting beside them, just waiting to be signed.

Sage didn’t notice that she was holding her breath until she released it as soon as Tony’s pen hit the page, and suddenly it hit her. _She was adopted._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	65. The Deep Breath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a longer chapter for you guys!

“So, how do we feel?”

Sage considered Aerin witha skeptical eyebrow. “We?”

“Shut up.” They shouldered her playfully. “You know what I meant. How are you doing? You’re adopted now. You’ve got a whole ass girlfriend who loves you. What’s going on in that noggin?”

“Well for one thing, I want you to never say ‘noggin’ ever again. I… I dunno. It feels kind of surreal, honestly. Almost like I’ll wake up, and all of this will have been a dream. Or that it’s all just… the simulation.”

“The sim- Sage. Don’t be that person. I will disown you.”

She grinned, leaning her head on Aerin’s shoulder as she watched Addy talk to Natasha. “I’m… happy. It’s a good feeling. We’re doing well.”

\---

They held a huge impromptu movie night after Judge Lingren left, Loki making a couple beanbag chairs and a loveseat to accommodate for the extra people.

“Wait, why can’t we watch The Incredibles?”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “We want to watch a _good_ movie, Sam.”

“Hey! The Incredibles is a good movie! Don’t make me fight you, Wanda. I was in a good mood today.” Sage glared at Wanda, mouth dropping open in shock when the other girl threw popcorn at her. “You little-”

“Well, if we can’t watch The Incredibles, what about Megamind?” Addy asked, throwing her legs over Sage’s lap to keep her from Wanda.

“Are all of the movies that you kids like superhero related? What about-”

“Shrek!” Aerin cried, cutting Bruce off and causing everyone to groan and throw pillows at them.

“What about The Lord of the Rings? We have time for that, right? No one has important plans tomorrow?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Cap. We can’t watch The Lord of the Rings without watching The Hobbit first. Them’s the rules now.” Natasha winked at Sage. “Any objections? No? Great. JARVIS, queue up the movies, please.”

“Hey, I’m gonna call my mom really quick, just to make sure that it’s alright I stay.”

“Okay, good luck.” Sage pressed a kiss to her temple and curled into the far sid eof the loveseat so that she could stand up.

She stood and drifted toward the kitchen so that she wouldn’t interrupt the movie. “Hey, Mom?”

_”Adeline? Are you on your way home?”_

“Actually… that’s what I called about.”

_”What?! What’s going on? Are you alright?”_

“No, yeah, _Mom._ I’m with Sage, remember? We were just starting a Tolkien marathon, and I wanted to know if I can stay.”

_”I don’t know, honey. I don’t really know her parents, and I want to make sure you’re making good decisions, and-”_

“Would you feel better if you could talk to one of her dads?” Both Tony and Loki looked over to her, and she winced apologetically.

Loki laid a gentle hand on Tony’s shoulder, standing to approach adeline.

Sage gave her a worried look and she returned a strained smile.

_”Well maybe, but the thing is-”_

Addy handed the phone to Loki, and he took it easily.

“Hello? Ah, Mrs. Collins, lovely to speak with you. Yes. yes, of course. Well if it makes you feel any btter, Adeline can sleep in our guest toom tonight. Oh, of course I understand. At least Sage isn’t a boy, eh?”

Addy made a disgusted face, and Sage glared at her father from across the room.

He rolled his eyes at both of them and put a finger to his lips. “Yes, of coursem m’am. Well thank you very much for trusting us to watch your daughter tonight. Yes. Yes, of course. Have a wonderful night yourself.” He hung up and winked at Adeline. “You’re good to go. And I do believe that I told her you would _sleep_ in the guest room, so I suppose you’ve got all sorts of options. Between pulling an all-nighter or having Sage sleep in the guess room with you… It’s your choice now, isn’t it?”

Adeline grinned and followed him back to the common area, going so far as to sit down beside Sage before realising that they hadn’t actually started the movie yet. “Oh… you didn’t have to-”

“Yeah, we did. Not about to start the movie if you can’t stay, are we? Now does anyone else have a pressing matter to attend to, or can we start this marathon properly? No? Good. Now everyone shut the hell up.”

Sage rolled her eyes at Clint and curled into Addy’s side, resting her cheek on the other girl’s shoulder.

\---

“Oh my god, I have a story to tell you!” Sage exclaimed in the middle of Arwen and Aragorn’s Rivendell scene. They’d been watching the movies nonstop, and those still awake were only remaining so through hopes and dreams. Needless to say, Sage was a little loopy.

“Right now? This is a good part.”

“I know! The first time that I ever saw this scene, I was kind of young, so my foster mom at the time was reading the captions to me, even though I didn’t need it. And right around ‘do you remember the first time we met’, her translation got a little wonky. She may or may not have been a little drunk. Anyway, her following translations were, and I quote; ‘yeah, I tripped over a rock.’ ‘Do you remember what I said to you?’ ‘Get up stupid!’ And so I can’t ever watch this scene the same ever again.”

Addy laughed. “Alright, that’s fair. It’s a good story.” She grinned and dropped a kiss on the top of Sage’s head.

“Hey!” Tony cried, getting their attention and making the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. “No canoodling on my couch. Canoodling is for adults only.” He amended, after noting Sage’s glance and him and Loki.

“Sam, quick!” Addy hissed, “Canoodle with Aerin!”

“No!” Tony yelped, causing the four to laugh and Loki to jolt awake. “Shit, sorry.” He settled back down with a glare at Sage that didn’t have any heat.

She giggled and blew him a kiss.

\---

Life sort of settled in for everyone over the course of the next few months. Sage transitioned back into the school routine much easier with a supportive girlfriend at her side. Tony started pulling a few all-nighters again from time to time, but not anywhere as frequently as he had previously. One or two day shop binges to keep his workload light and SI products from stagnation were preferrable to any nine-to-five he could ever have in Tony’s opinion. If you asked Sage and Pietro, something was going on between Wanda and the cute girl who ran the bookstore across the street from the sandwich shop, but she refused to give them an inch. Even their semi-regular run-ins with Doom and all the other self-styled supervillains had been fairly tame recently. Everything seemed to be taking a long, deep breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	66. The Plunge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get it? The Deep Breath before The Plunge? I'm clever?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all of you. I'm sorry.

The Avengers alarm went off, and that in itself was no cause for heightened concern. That was fine. What wasn’t fine was that Sage wasn’t in the tower, a matter that also was not, on its own, worrying. The problem lay in the fact that Sage had not checked in for three hours. Tony was hoping and praying fervently that she’d just forgotten, currently having too much fun with her girlfriend to pay them much thought.

His chest felt tight as the armour assembled around him, and a glance at Loki’s face as he donned his own made him sick to his stomach. So help him God, if some psycho messed with their daughter, he’d murder the bastard with his bare hands.

\---

When Sage woke up, she nearly screamed, because she _couldn’t see._ Her breath sped up and her chest started heaving as she registered the blindfold covering her eyes and the dirty rag stuffed deep in her mouth as a makeshift gag.

“Uhhh, boss? I think the kid’s waking up.”

Sage _only just_ managed to avoid whipping her head around at the sound of a voice. Oh god, she was going to die.

“Oh yeah?” A gruffer voice spoke up from the other side of her and farther away. “What gives you that impression, McLaren?”

“Think she’s having a panic attack, boss.”

 _No, really?_ Sage wanted to snark at the man’s worried tone, clear sarcastic thoughts breaking through her fog of panic. _I thought this was a natural kidnapping response._

“McLaren, we kidnapped her, you blithering idiot. Of course she’s panicking.”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“For the love of everything holy.” Sage flinched hard as something metallic flew through the air and clattered to the ground beside her. The gruff man stormed over, his footsteps heavy and his breathing loud. “McLaren,” he growled, the sound of his voice reflecting differently, indicating him crowding the other man’s personal space. “If you don’t want the girl panicking, force some Benadryl down her throat to make yourself feel better. It doesn’t _matter,_ because as soon as we get the word, I’m killing her, remember?”

Sage’s breath caught, and her tenuous control over her powers snapped. She heard air begin to swirl around her at different speeds, heights, and directions and choked on a sob. She’d moved straight through an anxiety fog to panicky tornadoes. Shit, this was bad. Shit, shit, shit.

“Boss…”

The other man swore and his footsteps approached her. “Of fucking course Tony Stark adopted a kid with goddamn powers. Christ.”

Sage felt a sharp pain in the side of her head, and promptly fell unconscious.

\---

Tony was just about done with this fucking guy. Guy in question fancied himself a supervillain, but oh boy did he have a lot to learn. If he didn’t suspect the douchebag of kidnapping their daughter, Tony would ask Loki to give him some pointers in style, because _honestly._

The guy was wearing a dark cloak - ala Emperor Palpatine, if Tony had to wager a guess - and he kept hurling _fucking garbage_ at them. Tony figured the guy could animate plastic, so it made sense, sort of. But come on. He could only blast so many garbage bags with his repulsors before the smell even started to permeate _his_ air filters. Was garbage burning even legal in the state of New York? (Spoiler alert - no.)

They were slowly running out of garbage in the immediate area - speaking of Pietro, how was he still able to breathe, let alone speed around when encased in that garbage bag? He looked like some kink model. Anyway, back to the situation at hand. Tony had a sickening feeling that soon this guy would start grabbing nearby girls by their boob implants.

“Seriously, can’t _anyone_ get close to him?”

“Tony, I am fighting _trash bags_ with a fucking bow and arrow. Shut the hell up.”

Tony scowled at Clint’s snappy response. He just wanted to take this guy out, go home, and find out that Sage had been safe this whole time; was that too much to ask?! He made up his mind and just flew straight for the guy, only pulling up short when he shrieked _stay back_ and threw something on the ground in front of him. Tony peered at it quizzically, barely resisting the urge to _tsk_ when a holoscreen burst out of the device. _Tacky,_ he thought, before everything in him ground to a halt at the sight of what the screen displayed. _No. God, no, please-_

Sage was blindfolded, gagged, and her face was streaked with tears. Something must have happened off screen that frightened her badly, because suddenly tons of mini tornadoes surrounded her. Tony had never seen that happen before. A man entered the screen, stomping toward Sage and picking up the wrench that laid beside the chair she was bound to. He knew what was going to happen a split second before it did, and shouted, stretching a hand toward the screen, and hearing his _no_ echoed by the rest of the team as the man beaned her in the side of the head and she slumped forward, unconscious.

Loki roared with fury, racing toward the man, only to be wrapped in a garbage bag.

“Don’t.” The guy said, peering out from under his hood, eyes meeting the eye holes in the suit. “None of you come any closer.” He had a soft voice, and he refused to speak loudly, but everyone was strung tight and listening carefully. He smirked after glancing around to ensure that he had the attention of every one of them. “That’s so much better, thank you.” His midwestern accent had a vague southern lilt to it, and you know what, Tony knew he hated West Virginia.

“You’ll want your girl back, I assume, and though I’m not inclined to give her to you, I can be persuaded. However. One wrong move by a single one of you, any of you moves a step closer, and I give my men the signal. Upon my word they shoot her through the skull on this live feed, and you have no choice but to watch. If you’re especially bad, I’ll even turn on the sound.”

“Don’t you dare.” Tony ground out, fighting to keep his voice steady, even as his eyes drifted back to the video of Sage, slumped in the chair, dead to the world, but still breathing - for now. “What do you want?” He asked begrudgingly, because these psychos always _wanted_ something, and dammit, if it got Sage back, he would deliver the moon.

“World peace.” The guy said, his eyes twinkling with a malicious glee. “But for now, I think Loki Laufeyson in magic-dampening chains would suffice.”

Tony felt the blood drain from his face as he turned to look at his husband. “I- you can’t- I can’t-”

“You can, and you will. Otherwise you’ll never see your daughter again. It’s your decision, Mister Stark, but you have half an hour to decide.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	67. Crisis Mode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.

Tony hurriedly landed and opened the armour and stepped out of it, rushing to Loki’s side.

Loki caught him deftly, taking Tony’s face in his hands and forcing the inventor to look him in the eye. “Anthony, my love we haven’t any time to discuss this. I will go with him, alright? Thor will provide the chains, I will go with him, everything will be fine. Anthony, we _have to,_ do you understand, I have to go with him.”

Tony gasped, desperately trying to keep the tears and panic at bay, scrabbling at Loki’s arms. “No, _no_ I c-can’t- I can’t- _Loki._ Don’t make me do this.” He whispered, “ _I can’t-_ ”

“I know. I know, my love. You don’t have to. I can do this on my own, you need to- Anthony.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Tony’s forehead, refusing to let his own tears escape as he watched the smaller man break down in front of him. “Anthony, you need to focus on our daughter. Make sure she’s safe. _Bring her home, darling._ I can take care of myself. Be worried for her, not me.” 

Loki tore his gaze away from his lover, making eye contact with Thor. The other god nodded solemnly. They had prepared for this day, years ago, when everyone had thought him wholly responsible for the Battle of New York. They had a contingency plan, albeit a very loose one. Thor had power-dampening chains that were equipped for any villain that tried to pick a fight with the Avengers. They had been made with Loki in mind, and indeed, they blocked his magic. He turned toward the man standing still behind the holoscreen, watching the scene unfold with some measure of unholy glee. “If I come to you sooner, will you let her go? Immediately?”

“Oh, of course.” The man simpered at him, arrogantly sure of his control of the situation.

Loki narrowed his eyes. “I want her brought here. I want you to bring her and prove that you will give her to us, and then I will give myself over gladly and without complaint. Do we have an accord?”

The man thought the proposition over for approximately two seconds before shaking his head. “No. You’ll have her, kill me and my two men, and then where does that leave me? No, no, no, that just won’t do.”

Tony’s hands gripped harder at Loki’s clothing, fury and fear clouding his eyes, his whole body trembling to hold back the scream that was building in the back of his throat.

“Come to me, God of Mischief, and she will be dropped off tomorrow morning in Central Park at nine fifty-three. I cannot guaruntee her saftey during any other sort of arrangement you try to conceive.”

Clint growled, hands clenching at his sides so hard he nearly snapped his bow. “You fucker.”

The man tutted, throwing a smirk at the archer. “You’re not the first to express such a statement, Hawkeye, and I doubt you’ll be the last.” He turned his attention back to Loki. “Well? What do you say? Ready to play with me?”

Tony shuddered. “No.” He whispered, unable to even make his own hands unclench from Loki’s tunic. “No, you can’t, Loki, _you can’t._ ”

Loki made eye contact with Thor and nodded, gently prying the inventor from his armour and holding his wrists out to his brother. “If you fuck this up, you enormous _oaf,_ I will escape just to murder you.” He allowed his voice to trembled just slightly, knowing his brother would not judge him for this.

The golden god chuckled darkly. “Brother, if I fail you in this, I would gladly welcome death.” He clinched the cuffs closed and stepped backward, eyes tense, jaw practically glued shut. He nodded once more to Loki before turning fully away, wishing vehemently for his partner, though he was glad the doctor was not in attendance. Seeing Sage like this might break Bruce, and he could not afford the emotional distress having the poor man go into hiding again would cause.

Loki tensed as the cuffs clicked closed, then forced himself to relax slowly, squaring his shoulders and turning to face the man. He walked toward him, head held high, refusing to look at Tony because he knew that if he did, he would never be able to follow through with this. He looked once more at Sage, his _daughter,_ sprawled in that chair, rendered unconscious by that brute employed by the man he would be surrendering his life to, and his jaw clenched once more in anger. He would go with this man, and as soon as he was certain that Sage was safely back with the team once more, he would escape. When he escaped, Norns help any sorry being that stood in the way of him reuniting with his family.

\---

Tony was furious. He couldn’t _sit still._ He could barely breathe. Steve had practically dragged him back to the tower kicking and screaming, and if JARVIS hadn’t shut down the suit, Tony would have gone after the son of a bitch himself. He was pacing on the common floor, unable to force himself to go to his own floor, with Sage kidnaped and Loki gone.

“What the _hell do you mean_ Sage and Loki are gone? What’s going on?! _**Why didn’t any of you call me?!** _”__

__“Bruce. Calm down, my love. There was nothing-”_ _

__“The hell there wasn’t! How-”_ _

__“Bruce, you have to believe Thor, we honestly-”_ _

__“No! I don’t-”_ _

__Everyone started talking at once, shouting voices interlapping and overwhelming each other, and rising in pitch and volume, until finally Tony couldn’t-_ _

___”ENOUGH!”_ His voice rose loud enough that everyone jumped, and turned to look at him with concern, but he couldn’t- he _couldn’t-__ _

__He found himself unable to look a single one of them in the eye. He was pacing back and forth rapidly, the tiny voice at the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Howard warning him that we was going to wear a hole in the damn carpet. His hands were shaking. His mind was moving a thousand miles a minute, but he just couldn’t-_ _

__Natasha laid a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, and that’s when everything _snapped_._ _

__“JARVIS,” he spat, wrenching away from the agent, ignoring the concerned looks from his teammates and standing stock still, looking vaguely upward. He clenched his hands into fists to keep them from shaking and let his eyes fall shut._ _

__“Yes, Sir?” The AI sounded as apprehensive as the team._ _

__“Call Deadpool. I need to talk to him.”_ _

__Phil blanched. “Tony, I’m not sure-”_ _

__“Phil, no offense, but shut the fuck up, and let me save my family.”_ _

__“Friendly Neighborhood Merc with a Mouth, what’s shakin’ bacon? How can I help?”_ _

__“Wade. I need a favour.”_ _

__The mirth immdediately dropped from the mercenary’s voice. “Stark? What’s going on? Did something happen to Spidey?”_ _

__Tony clenched his jaw and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, you imbicile, Spider-Man is fine. Stop. I need something else.”_ _

__“Alrighty. Talk to me, Tin Man.”_ _

__“It’s about Sage and Loki. Were you watching the battle today?”_ _

__“I was a long way off and only using my peepers. What happened?”_ _

__“The bastard kidnapped Sage.” He smirked humourlessly at Wade’s sharp intake of breath. It was the only thing he could afford to do right now. _Stark men were made of iron._ Today would well be the test of that, wouldn’t it? “He took Loki in our power-dampening cuffs and said she’d been in Central tomorrow morning, but I need her back _now_ , Wade. I have no way of knowing that this asswipe will keep his word. I need to know that she’s safe so that I can rain down _**hell**_ on whoever this shitbag is.”_ _

__Wade hummed in response, letting Tony stew for a moment before, “Of course I’ll help. Are you giving me backup, or do I have to scrounge up my own? Do I get tall, dark, and devestatingly handsome?” His voice took on a lecherous tone and Bucky scowled._ _

__“Sure, Phil is always happy to work with you.” If Tony hadn’t felt so gutted, he might’ve laughed at the betrayed look on the agent’s face. As it was, he was two seconds away from curling up in a ball until this goddamn _nightmare_ was over. “Barnes, how do you feel about working with Deadpool for as long as we need you to?”_ _

__Bucky met Tony’s gaze steadily, nodding slightly before speaking up. “Anything to bring them home safe.”_ _

__The steely grey eyes that bore into Tony’s were nearly all _Soldier_ and if Tony weren’t so desperate, he’d be worried, But he knew what this was. This he was familiar with. Pulling away, distancing himself, pushing down his emotions and letting his training take over to get this over with. He didn’t know that he approved, particularly from Bucky, with all the progress he’d made, but well… He didn’t really have any room to talk right now, did he? They could all commiserate later. Right now, the most important thing was finding this fucker and beating him within an inch of his life._ _

__Wade cheered for a moment. “Alright, Buckaroo. Meet me in twenty. You know the place. Bring all the goodies you can discreetly carry on your person, and a few big ‘uns just for funsies.”_ _

__“Bring her home. P- please.” Tony could feel the cracks start to form in his facade, and he needed to be out there, _searching,_ but he couldn’t- he had to-_ _

__Bucky nodded at him one more time before locking eyes with Steve. “End of the line, punk. I’ll see you when this is all over.”_ _

__The other soldier swallowed hard and nodded, clearly resisting the urge to go to his partner. “Bring her home, Buck.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	68. Who Forgot To Alert the Girlfriend?

“H- hi. I- I- I’m- I need to talk to Tony Stark, _please_.”

The front desk secretary looked her up and down like she was crazy, and picked up the phone on her desk. “Riiiiight. I’ll just call someone to help you with that.”

“No, _listen_ , I- okay, look if you’re going to call security on me, call Happy Hogan. He knows me. _Please_ ”

“Sure. Hi, yeah, security? I’ve got a girl down here-”

Addy bit her lip and glanced quickly to the elevator, and then back to the secretary. She took one slow step backward, adn then two, keeping her eyes glued to the woman, before bolting to the elevator, slamming the button and leaping inside and shouting, “JARVIS, penthouse, please.” She leaned against the back wall of the elevator, breathing heavily. “JARVIS?”

“Yes, Miss Collins?”

“Can you tell me anything about what’s going on? Is Sage okay? What happened to Loki?”

The AI hesitated. “I am unsure how much information Sir will allow me to disclose. You are not yet programmed into the security protocols beyond your residential floor clearences. I apologise.”

“That’s… fine. He’s got a lot on his plate right now.”

“Indeed.” The AI was silent for the rest of the ride.

When the doors slid open, her heart dropped. The floor was empty.

“JARVIS? Is anyone still here? Are they all… out looking?”

“Doctor banner and Sir are still in the building. Sir is… sleeping, and Doctor Banner was with him, but he is on his way up.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Of course.”

“Adeline.” Bruce stpped out fo the elevator looking haggard and exhausted. “I am so sorry that no one called you sooner. It’s been… a hell of a week.”

“It’s fine. I just- what’s going on? I saw the fight on the news, but…”

“There’s not much to tell you. Sage, she… She got kidnapped. We’re doing our best to find her. We’ve got… Everyone out looking. We think that she and Loki are in the same place, but… Well, at this point there’s really no way to be sure. You’re welcome to stay here, if you’d like. That way you’re not out of the loop anymore. I wish I could tell you more, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s- that’s alright, really. It’s more than I knew before. When- uh. When was she kidnapped?”

Bruce’s eyes softened. “Tuesday. We didn’t find out until Wednesday. God, we shoudl have told you sooner.”

Adeline sunk to the couch. “That’s why she stopped returning my texts. I mean… It makes sense. I just hadn’t quite… Put it together. I- I just thought that she was being passive aggressive or something. Fuck.”

“Look, I’m gonna go check on Tony. He’s… Not handling this well. This might be the first time he’s slept since this whole mess began. He hasn’t really had to deal with being apart from Loki since they got together, and with Sage having only been adopted for a few months… He’s understandably stressed.”

“Yeah, no kidding. He hasn’t slept in three days?”

“Well, that’s far from being a record for him, but he’ss been so emotionally drained… I’m surprised he lasted so long.”

“Jesus. Ell, you go. I’ll just… Be here, I guess.”

 

\---

Addy looked up from where her eyes had been glued to the split screens that she’d had JARVIS pull up of every news station that she could think of when Spider-Man swung onto the balcony, and then staggered into the penthouse, ripping off his mask and collapsing face first onto the sectional just feet away from where Adeline was sitting.

“Um. Hello.”

Peter’s head shot up, and his eyes grew huge as he realised that there was a stranger sitting on the couch with him, and that she’d seen his face. He was still in the suit. Oh shit, Mister Stark was going to kill him, and-

“So… _You’re_ Spider-Man?”

“Y-Yeah. What’s it to you? Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“I’m… Sage’s girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Peter breathed out a sigh of relief and sunk back into the couch. “You’re Adeline. Hi, Adeline. Goodnight, Adeline.”

Adeline blinked a few times, still not quite understanding what had happened as Spider-Man fell asleep on Tony Stark’s sectional. What the hell…

\---

Peter jolted awake when Thor landed on the helipad with a loud _thud_. “Mister Thor!” His voice cracked slightly, and a quick look over at Adeline showed that- yep, she’d definitely heard. Shit. This was not a good first impression.

The heavy, troubled look on Thor’s face only lightened slightly at the sight of Peter and Adeline on the sectional. “Ah, young Peter. Adeline. How are you both?”

“I’ve been better. I was swinging around the city all day looking for her, Bucky’s teaming up with Deadpool, Pietro hasn’t _stopped running_ , he and Wanda are just looking for Sage. Phil’s using every SHIELD resource that he still has access to, and I don’t even know what happened to Clint and Natasha. Cap is still out looking. I don’t think anyone has really had a wink of sleep since this whole thing started, so there’s that.”

“I mean… I’m not great. My girlfriend and her dad are kidnapped, and no one knows where they are. Any new news?”

“Not much, I am afraid. Either Loki has not yet used his magic, or I am less proficient than we thoguht, for I cannot feel him.”

“But… I thought that the cuffs you handed him over in blocked his magic.” Adeline looked to Spider-Man for confirmation, but the other kid was looking at Thor, and seemed just as confused.

“They do, for the most part. They allow him to utelise just enough magic to be tracked, but not enough to escape his bondage. A safeguard implemented in all Asgardian restraints in case of the event of a jailbreak or someone kidnapping a prisoner.”

“So… you know where he is?” Peter asked, his brow furrowed.

“We will. As soon as he uses his magic.” Thor fixed them with a steady look. “We will not rest until we find them, Adeline.”

Peter nodded solemnly, pulling his mask back on.

\---

A few more of the Avengers came and went while Adeline was in the tower. Most of them told her different variations of the same thing. They were looking. They would find them. When Tony came and sat by her, it was almost a relief.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t contact you sooner.”

“It’s okay. I get it. You’ve all been focused on finding them, that’s what’s important right now.”

“Yeah.” Tony scoffed, staring down at his hands. “Meanwhile, Cap has me benched from looking for my own family because I’m too emotionally unstable.”

“Yeah, but… you know he’s right, don’t you? Subconsciously, I mean. And I’m not… Saying that to be an ass, what I’m saying is… I don’t think that even Captain American can tell Tony Stark ‘no’ once he’s sat his mind to something.”

Tony gave her a considering look. “You know… You’re more perceptive than I gave you credit for.”

“Thank you. You know, while we’re having this heart-to-heart, you could write me into your security protocols concerning your daughter.”

Tony let out a startled laugh, but it sounded hollow. “That’s fair, I suppose. I took care of the security FUBAR that you created earlier, by the way. Good to know that my current security team is practically useless.”

“In all fairness, I doubt I would have gotten so far without JARVIS. But he’s a great guy who’s supportive of the gays, so he let me up.”

“Fair enough.”

\---

“Sage? Sage, darling, can you hear me?”

The blonde groaned and stirred slightly, but not enough for Loki’s liking. The girl had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the past three days, and he wasn’t sure how long it would take for these kidnappers to decide that death was better than continuing to use up sedatives and some form of artificial hydration on his daughter. He carefully laid a thin glamour over himself to conceal the myriad of injuries covering his body. Not only did these damn cuffs keep him from lashing out or protecting himself at all, they slowed his healing significantly, and _damnit_ , it hurt, but he couldn’t let Sage see him like this. Thor should have been here by now. Something must have gone wrong. _What_ could have gone wrong? They’d had such carefully laid plans, and yet-

And yet. Loki knew as well as anyone how his husband was when panicked. And Anthony in a panic was enough to set anyone off. No doubt, the entire team was out searching for them. That would be useful, if they weren’t currently in an entirely seperate dimension. It looked like this was completely up to them, then. That was fine. He could do this. He’d located a nail on the back of the chair he was currently bound to on the first day that he’d been brought here. He’d been working it out slowly but surely, and he was just on the verge of extracting it. His fingers were bloody, and he couldn’t stop _sweating_ , but he was nearly there.

Sage groaned again and roused slowly, lifting her head and opening her eyes blearily as she slowly drugded through her drug-induced haze. “P- Papa?” She asked, her voice scratchy after not being used for three days. “Is that you?”

Loki couldn’t help the relieved smile that broke out across his face. _They would be okay._ “Hello, darling. How are you today?”

“Well, I’ve gotta admit, Papa, this wasn’t how I was expecting to spend my Tuesday night.”

“It’s Friday, love.”

“Jesus.” She leaned her head back against the chair, eyes carefully taking in their surroundings. “I- I didn’t see it, before. They had me blindfolded.”

“I am aware. We saw… a video. It distressed your father very much.”

“Aw, he shouldn’t have worried.” She tensed her hands slightly, testing the give in the zip ties. Yeah, there was no way she was getting out of these. “We’ll be fine.” She bit her lip and looked down at her own lap, and very quitely asked, “We _will_ be fine, right Papa?”

“Of course we will, my love. There is absolutely no reason to be alarmed. I will protect you. I promise.”

“Okay.” She whispered, head hanging forward, her eyes squeezed shut. A few tears still escaped, and dripped to her jeans, and Loki’s heart shattered.

She was being so brave. He was so proud of her. They were getting out of here. Norns help them, they were getting out of here _tonight_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	69. I Wish the Tone of This Chapter Worked For An Innuendo Title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst with a happy ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I would like to sincerely apologise for this chapter taking so long. The month of October was a really rough one for me, between being in a play, taking midterms, and some friend drama that I'm not going to get into, so over all I just took a huge hiatus for my own mental health.
> 
> That being said, this is a slightly longer chapter than normal to hopefully make up for some of that. This isn't the end chapter yet, we've still got a bit of a ways to go, but I just want to say thank you to all the readers that have stuck with me so far. Thank you so much, I love you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Loki’s eyes surveyed his daughter’s face carefully. Admittedly, he hadn’t been paying enough attention to her over the last three days. He’d been a bit more concerned with his own torture, aware that they had not touched her while she was unconscious. It seemed as though this man was really only interested in him, and that he’d kidnapped Sage simply to get to him. Although, after overhearing some conversations that the thugs had shared, they really had been given instructions to kill Sage at some trigger word.

The thought made Loki’s blood boil. He could understand a vendetta; he had a few himself. But kidnapping an innocent girl, with all intentions of killing her on threat of compliance was foolhardy, rash, and cruel. Sage didn’t deserve this. Loki did, and he was aware of that. There were many things that he had not yet paid his penance for, but Sage had been drawn into this simply for being his daughter, and that was inexcusable.

Sage wasn’t too badly hurt. She wasn’t alright, but nothing had yet happened that wouldn’t be healed within at least a month. Her lip was split, and there was a trickle of dried blood on her forehead from when she’d been knocked unconscious with that damn pipe wrench. It didn’t look a serious injury, but they’d have to be cautious and watch for the onset of infection. Her knees were scraped up, presumably from when she’d been kidnapped, and her elbow was bruised, perhaps from attempting to fight off her assailents. Maybe that had been there before this whole ordeal had happened, he wasn’t quite sure of much anymore.

While he didn’t need to stay hydrated quite like humans, three days without any form of water or food was a lot for anyone. His magic sustained him somewhat, but that would only last for so long, and he couldn’t afford to expend any past keeping himself mostly alive and keeping Sage from seeing how injured he was. He refused to add more trauma to his daughter’s mind, despite feeling slightly dizzy and the headache pounding at his temples.

Loki flinched as what felt like a drop of water fell onto his forehead, a scalding sensation blossoming there and traveling throughout his body, gaining speed and intensity the farther from his head it traveled, until it flared up and fizzled out upon reaching the cuffs. He winced and rolled his wrists, trying to ease the burning feeling there, cringing away at the feeling of a second drop, and then a _third_ , each stronger than the last.

“Papa?” Sage asked quietly, watching her father with concern as a glamour he was wearing blinked away for a moment and she caught sight of a black eye before it was secured back in place. “Papa, what’s going on?” She jumped at the sound of a door being slammed open in the distance. “Papa?”

“Magic.” Loki responded through gritted teeth. “Some low-rent _cretin_ of a sorceror is… trying to drain my magic.”

“Wh- Papa? A- are you goign to be okay? What’s going on? What is that noise?!” She cried as another slammed door was heard, and the sound of shouting reached them.

“Sage, darling, I need you to calm down for a moment. Just a moment, love, and then- then we’ll figure things out.” Loki took a deep breath and stopped fighting the _acid_ burning away at his magic. He stopped fighting it and _pushed,_ shoving his glamour into Sage’s mind an dsecuring it there before letting the true one drop. He looked carefully into her fear-filled eyes, watching for any flinch or look of concern or horro as a sign that she saw any of the myriad injuries littering his body. He sighed in relief when her expression did not change, and also dropped his Asgardian glamour, letting his Jötunn magic freeze over his wounds and dull all of his pain as he mustered all his remaining magic and cast a crying spell to find the source of the commotion in the hall. He nearly cried tears of joy at the sight of James, Deadpool, Barton, Thor, and the Captain slowly but surely pplowing their way through a myriad of guards to get to them. He could not even muster the energy to be ashamed at the necessity of such a rescue. He just need to be _home._

He ended the spell and slid back into his glamour, breathing heavily. “Sage?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re going home, darling. We’re going to be okay.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“They- they’re all- AHH!” Loki cried out as his magic flickered, and every muscle in his body contracted.

“Papa?!”

 

“I- I’m f-fine, Sage, I-” He let out a choked groan as his muscles relaxed and then seized again, squeezing his eyes shut. The cuffs disintegrated and fell off, and everythng invading his body and magic suddenly disappeared. He took a deep breath and stared at the door, panting.

A fiery ring appeared in the air in front of the door and widened until it was large enough for a man to pass through. A man in a red cloak stepped out of the circle. He had… interesting facial hair that was vaguely reminiscent of Tony’s. His hair was greying tastefully at the temples, and he wore yellow gloves.

Loki’s eyes narrowed, and his face grew stormy.”Strange,” he hissed, “Of course.”

“Well that’s a fine way to greet your rescuer, Laufeyson. Or is it Odinson? Or Stark? I can never remember.”

“Fuck off.”

Strange tutted. “That’s rude.”

“Papa? Who is this?”

Strange turned to Sage and his face softened. “Doctor Stephen Strange. I used to be a colleague of your father’s. I am a master of the mystic arts.” He explained as he gently began to free her.

“Low-rent party magician, more like.” Loki groaned, trying to muster the energy to stand. 

Strange shook his head so that only Sage could see. “Well this ‘low-rent party magician’ just freed you from those magic-dampening cuffs, so you’re welcome.”

“I’m _welcome?!_ Do you have _any idea_ what your sorry excuse for magic _feels like?!_ ” Loki spat, as if the words were poison on his lips. A sensation he’d become all too familiar with in the past few days. “It was searing me fit to be eaten from the inside out. It was like _acid,_ eating and tearing away at my magic until there was nothing left. It felt as though someone had poured boiling water upon my head and down my throat and left me to burn and die. How would you like to endure that, Strange, simply to have some vague semblance of your magic restored that you do not have the strength or endurance to use because you are so injured and of poor health that you _cannot even **stand?!**_ ”

The sorceror, to his credit, looked as though he felt badly. “I am sorry about that. It was the only thing I could think of to get you out of those things. Bombarding them with my magic while simulaneously wearing away yours enough for you to slip out of them altogether. I did not think of the toll that it would truly wear on you. My apologies.”

Loki scoffed and clenched his fists. “Save your apologies for when I am strong enough to challenge you to a duel.”

This time Strange merely rolled his eyes. “I’ll be sure to tell your husband that when I return you to him. Come now, up.” He helped Sage to her feet and turned to help Loki, but was faced with a knife.

“If think to so much lay a hand on me, I will gut you where you stand, rescuer or no.”

Sage sighed, still looking a bit afraid, and anxious to get home. “Papa… please.”

At that moment, Mjolnir burst through the door, followed quickly by Thor. “Brother!” The blonde god stormed in and instantly went to Loki to check him over.

Sage smiled a tiny bit, so _so_ happy to finally see another of her family, because that meant that she really _was_ going home. “Thor?” She asked quietly, registering with a bit of surprise how weak her own voice sounded.

“Yes, Sage?” He turned to her, but she held up a shaky hand before he could start fussing over her too.

“Would you mind… helping Papa up? He’s not doing so hot, and he won’t let Doctor Strange help him, and I just… I want to go home.” Her voice broke on the last word, and she took a deep breath, trying desperately to keep from crying. She was doing so well. She just needed to get home. She needed to get home and see her dad and to call Addy and Sam, and give Peter a hug, and just-

Sage felt herself enveloped in a hug, and without thinking, she latched on tightly to whoever it was, knowing that she was safe. She’d be alright. She sniffed a couple times, blinking away tears. She only realised that Bucky was the one hugging her when she felt his metal arm, and she looked up to see Steve, Clint, and Deadpool in the room as well. Loki was upright but leaning heavily on Thor.

Steve gave her a soft smile and turned to Strange. “Can you get us straight to the quinjet?”

Silently, Strange opened another of the fiery rings that he’d entered through, and they all filed through it to the quinjet. Clint quickly took up position in the pilot’s seat, and Bucky and Thor gently guided Sage and Loki to adjacent seats, sitting on either side and bracketing them in once the two were settled. Sage laid her head on Loki’s shoulder and closed her eyes, knowing that when she opened them again they’d be back at the Avengers Tower, and everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	70. Baby, Come Home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to apologise for not having this chapter up last week, and for the rather erratic uploading schedule that I suspect I will be having over the next month or so. The holidays is always weird, and on top of that, I've got two different sessions of exams that I have to prepare for over the course of the next two or three weeks. I appreciate all of your patience with me so so much, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> TW for kind of graphic descriptions of the after effects of torture. If you think this will bother you, please skip the chapter beginning with "Tony looked up and ran a gentle thumb over the quickly fading bruise on Loki’s cheek"

Sunday night, fifty-two hours after Adeline had practically broken into Stark Tower, they brought her home.

Adeline and Tony both stood up abruptly when the quinjet landed on the helipad. Tony immediately bolted out to the helipad, pulling both of them into a tight hug, but Adeline hung back. She let the three have their moment, quietly taking stock of how much Sage was injured. Her heart was breaking, but she ignored it. Sage needed her right now and she needed to be strong. She would be fine and she would make sure her girlfrien was too. She caught Sage’s eye when she walked in, and caught the girl herself when she rushed over and threw herself into her arms. Addy wrapped her arms sround the other girl rightly, burying her head in her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m amazing.” Her light tone of voice was betrayed by how tightly she held Adeline back. “I’m okay. Or… I will be. We’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, we will.”

They didn’t say much to each other for a while after that. They stood there and held each other, and didn’t say a word until everyone else had left. Sage lifted her head from where it was buried in Adeline’s shoulder, and took one of her hands, kissing her cheek and leading her silently to her room.

She stripped off all of her clothes and rummaged thoruggh her drawers before carefully redressijng in an enormous sweater and a pair of sweats. She tapped the wall twice and turned the thermostat that emerged down to fifty-eight degrees. She climed into the bed as the vents started blowing practically frigid air, and huddled under the mountain of blankets before poking a hand out from underneath them and holding it out to Addy.

The other girl looked at her hand for a long moment and glanced over her shoulder at the door. 

Sage’s head peeked out from under the blankets, and she tried to keep her face neutral, not showing exactly how much she needed this. “Please. Just for tonight.”

Addy closed her eyes and blew out a careful breath before climbing underneath the covers. She reached out for Sage and pulled her close, fisting her hand in the other girl’s sweater, just to remind herself that Sage was _there._ She wasn’t missing anymore. She wasn’t kidnapped, she wasn’t being tortured. She was there, and she was home, and she was safe, and if she could help it, Adeline was never letting her out of her sight ever again.

\---

Loki managed to maintain his glamour just long enough for Tony to have gotten him into the tub before letting it melt away with a groan. He leaned his head back against the chilled porcelain, letting his eyes fall shut and bracing himself for when Tony turned back around. He heard a sharp intake of breath and cracked one eye open, noting the look of concern on his husband’s face. “I’m alright, love.”

Tony’s brow furrowed and a stormy look came over his face. “Alright?! Loki, you’re not… Alright. You’ve been _tortured_ for the last four days. You- you’re _bleeding in my bathtub!_ I-” He dropped to his knees by the tub, and carefully traced his fingers along the edge of a long knife wound striping the god’s pale chest. “Oh my god, you’re bleeing in my bathtub. Why isn’t this healed? D- did they use some magic weapon? O- or-”

“No, no, my love. Shhh. Everything is perfectly alright. The cuffs dampened my magic greatly, and I was too focused on protecting Sage to expend any energy on healing. I simply require rest, my darling, and I will be right as rain. Look. Anthony, look at my face.” He could feel the cut along his cheekbone healing in tadem with his split lip, and he needed for Anthony to see it. To know that he was out of harm’s way.

Tony looked up and ran a gentle thumb over the quickly fading bruise on Loki’s cheek, and then looked again at the sluggishly bleeding knife wound, and what looked like cigarette burns littering his thighs. A closer look saw a literal chunk missing from Loki’s forearm, the skin of the other one red and mottled. Rope burn snaked around both wrists, and his ankles, and his calves looked like they’d been scalded. Tears rushed to his eyes, and he leaned his forehead against Loki’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I am so _so_ sorry that we dind’t find you sooner. I should have put trackers on you, I- I should have had Coulsen have a SHIELD agent follow you, I should have-”

“No.”

Tony’s head snapped up at Loki’s hard tone, and while the god’s eyes were angry, his hands were gentle as the cupped Tony’s face.

“This is absolutely not your fault. I will not have you blaming yourself for anything that happened to me, do you hear me? You are not responsible for my torture. You did everything you could. You are not the cause of a single thing that happened this week, Anthony.”

The man let out a quiet sob, and couldn’t look Loki in the eye. “Alright. Fine. I’m not responsible. But-”

 _”No,_ Anthony. No. Do you love me, darling?”

Tony’s eyes snapped upward to meet Loki’s, and he looked hurt. “Of course, I-”

Loki smiled softly, interrupting. “And I love you. And you would never want me to blame myself for something that was out of my control, so please, _please_ hear me when I say that this was _not_ your fault.”

He let out a shaky breath, and raised a hand to grasp one of Loki’s. “I- I felt so _useless,_ Lo’. It was so dumb, but I felt so… So scared, and so helpless, and they wouldn’t let me-”

“Anthony, what could you have done?”

“Excuse me?!” Tony lurched backward and tears rushed to his eyes.

“No… I didn’t mean that, forgive me, my love. I am not thinking clearly, let me rephrase that. I did not mean to question you or your ability. I was asking. What could you have done, my love? Tell me. Think through every step that you could have taken to put your mind at ease. Tell me how you would have done things differently.”

Tony took a deep breath, and let his eyes slip closed. He tightened his grip on Loki’s hand and let his mind free, letting it work through everything that he would have done, everything that he _could have_ done, and letting his mouth work a mile a minute as his thoughts ran wild, doing his best to keep up. “Well, to start with…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	71. That Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry this chapter is a little late again. I'd give an excuse, but I really don't have one, I just wasn't really sure what this chapter would be until I wrote it, and I wasn't feeling super motivated to write it. I'm really happy with this chapter though, I hope you all like it!

That night they reconnected.

Sage and Adeline slept, intertwined in one another, holding tightly to each other and refusing to let go until they were faced with the harsh light of morning.

Loki finished his bath. He gave himself time to rejuvinate - to restore his magic and heal himself completely before attacking his skin with a loofah. He scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, determined to scrape away every last dead skin cell, every single _speck_ of dust clinging to him from that place. 

Tony talked. He explained and figured and worked every angle of every single thing that he could have done out in his mind before he was satisfied. Then, Tony watched. Tony watched silently the entire time. He watched, relief flowing through him as every wound and injury on his husband’s body disappeared. He watched with growing concern as Loki began to scrub at his skin; watched as Loki’s skin began fluctuating between shades of pink and its normal pale the harder and longer the other man scrubbed. When he couldn’t watch anymore he walked to the kitchenette and started making hot chocolate because he didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t know how to comfort, he didn’t know what he had to offer, so he tackled it like any other problem. He started to make something. He made two mugs of hot chocolate and then set them in the bedroom on the nightstand. He returned to the bathroom to see Loki still scrubbing at his skin with a far away look in his eyes, and he felt his heart shatter. He carefully laid a hand on his husband’s arm, took the loofah, and guided him up and out of the tub. He wrapped the other man in the softest towel they had and took him to the bedroom, dressing him in some of his own clothes and then putting him to bed, buried under a veritable mountain of blankets. He crawled in beside him and clutched him tightly, hot chocolate forgotten on the nightstand, doing his best to assure himself that everything would be alright in the morning.

Peter went home. He hugged his aunt tightly, unable to find the words to tell her just what he’d been doing for the past few days. He sent his best friend a text to assure the other boy that he was okay and that everything was right again. He ate a mountain of food, and then he collapsed into his bed, exhausted both physically and mentally, prepared to sleep for a week.

Pietro spent the night with Wanda. They curled around each other like they used to before everything; before _anything_ , and they whispered to each other in their native language until the sun came up, afraid of what would happen if they closed their eyes long enough to fall asleep.

Wanda made room in her bed for her brother. She held him tightly and had memories of nights when they were much younger of doing the same thing but under entirely different circumstances. She thought about maybe, finally, talking to the girl who worked in the bookstore on the corner, because if this had taught her anything it was that things were temporary. Life was short. Events happened suddenly and without warning, and if you were too scared to take advantage of an opportunity, then it might be taken from you. She mentioned that to Pietro and he laughed at her, but not in the way that he usually would. The laugh sounded breathless, unbelieving. Like they’d been thinking similar things, and he still sometimes forgot that they didn’t have twin telepathy. Or that they did, but not. Different. Special. He told her that she definitely should ask the girl out, but that he wanted to meet her. She laughed and rolled her eyes. He would never change, and she loved that. The worst day of her life would be when her brother changed into someone else. It would be the day that something truly horrific and irriversable happened, and she wasn’t prepared. She never would be. So instead she laughed at him, pinched him on the arm, and held him tighter for the tiniest moment.

Bucky took a shower. He took the longest, hottest shower that he could manage and did his best to scrub away every bit of himself that still felt like _Soldier_ after that week. He didn’t let Steve join him, but the other man understood. He could handle most missions. He could handle so _much_ now that he never would have been able to before. He had been doing well, but this had wreaked havoc on him. This was something that his therapist would be hearing about for weeks, but he had that now. He had a therapist. He had Steve. He had the whole team. Things would be okay. He just had to get through tonight.

Steve did his best to give Bucky space. He wasn’t sure what the other man was going through. He didn’t want to know. He knew that it wasn’t anything good, and that was enough. He knew there was nothing he could do to help yet, and that was alright. He’d be there with all the comfort he could offer as soon as the other man stepped out of the bathroom, and that was okay. That was enough. It was what he had. They had all done everything they could, and now Loki and Sage were home safe. Maybe it would take a while, but they could deal with that. What was important was that they were home.

Bruce spent several hours in the lab. He locked the door and muted JARVIS and ignored and attempts at access. When he finally emerged in the wee hours of the morning, Thor was waiting at the door with open arms and soft eyes. They embraced tightly, ignoring the tears that were finally being spent and went to their rooms.

Thor worried. He worried and worried and worried until Bruce _finally_ opened the doors of the lab, and then he was there. He was there for whatever his partner wanted to throw at him, but all Bruce wanted was a hug. A hug and someone to tell him that it would all be alright; someone who would let him cry into their shirt and who would sit with him on their couch and watch stupid, mindless television until the sun breached the horizon. Thor was willing, _so willing_ to do that and whatever else the other man needed. Anything that could help Bruce feel steady and stable and _human_. Anything to keep his love with him, where he could see that the other was safe and sane and healthy. Anything to not be separated anymore.

Clint, Natasha, and Phil gave Fury the quickest debrief they could manage, and then the went home. They went to their own floor of the tower and curled up in the living room, Clint and Natasha squabbled over who should get the remote and Phil watched fondly. They didn’t discuss what the spies had to do over the past few days. They didn’t talk about how they thought the others were coping or the lack thereof. They didn’t treat it differently than any other mission, becuase if they did that it would be acknowledging what had happened. They didn’t work like that. They carried on. Acknowledgement of the Big Things happened in therapy. They didn’t need to do that here. All they needed to do here was to exist. To be themselves.

That night they reconnected. They took time to remember who they were; to refamiliarise themselves with those around them. They gave themselves time, space. They all let themselves _breathe_ and stop worrying about everything ahead of them. They gave into whatever calm they could find, and let their traumas go until the morning. Nothing had to be dealt with that night. Nothing was so important that it needed their attention in those moments. That night they reconnected, because what else was there to do but to begin to heal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	72. Settling Back In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very dialogue heavy and sort of Peter-centric, so... that's a thing. I really like this chapter honestly because it explores some more of Sage and Peter's dynamic that we haven't seen much of yet. Thank you so so much for reading!!

“What the f-” Peter bolted upward and scrambled for his phone with bleary eyes as it buzzed loudly on his nightstand. “Ulo?”

“Peter! Good, you’re up.”

“Good, I’m- wha- no! Who- Sage?”

“Duh. Who else would be calling you at three am on a Tuesday.”

“It’s-” he looked over at the bright red numbers on his alarm clock that did, in fact, read three-oh-eight. “For the love of god, Sage, what is it? Why couldn’t this wait?”

 _”Because,_ dearest adoptive brother of mine, I had an epiphany.”

 

“Adoptive brother?”

“Well, yeah. Tony basically adopted you, he adopted me... keep up Parker I don’t have time for shenanegans.”

“Shenan-” No. This was not happening right now. He couldn’t deal with this. It was a _school night!_ “Sage, it’s a school night.”

“So?”

“So, I have school in the morning! And so do you last time I checked!”

“And?”

“And if you don’t let me go back to bed in the next two minutes I will call your girlfriend and tell her that you aren’t sleeping. And then I’ll call Da- To- _Mister Stark_ for good measure.”

“Peter!”

This girl had the gall to sound affronted. Right in front of his salad. Peter was going to McFreaking lose it. “Sage. what the fuck did you wake me up at three am on a Tuesday to tell me?”

“Oh. Right, that. So. I was thinking… Bum bum bum! We should have a movie night.”

Peter groaned and rolled over to shove his face into a pillow. He was going to kill her. He was going to have to kill his not really adopted sister, and then Tony Stark was goiing to kill him, and he would never be able to see the end of the Fantastic Beasts movies. What had he done to deserve this? Who had he murdered in a past life? Why did karma hate him so much?!

“Peter.”

“Wut.” He couldn’t even be bothered to lift his head from the pillow to respond.

“I can hear you spiraling from here. Snap out of it. I need your help.”

“With what? A movie night? We do those all the time, Sage! Why do we need to organize a special movie night at three in the morning?!”

“Peter Benjamin Parker-Stark you should be ashamed of yourself!”

“E- ex _cuse me?!_ What did you just call me?”

“You heard me. I said what I said. You know damn well why we need this movie night. It’s been nearly two weeks since Papa and I were kidnapped, and we haven’t had a single fun team get together since. Everyone’s walking on eggshells around me. I’m fucking sick and tired of it. I’m about to throw a party on the ground floor of Avengers Tower and see how long it takes for someone to call the police. I’m getting desperate here, Peter. I want to be a family again. I want to be back to normal. Please please _please_ help me plan this, I’m _begging you.”_

“Have you considered maybe, I dunno, talking to the team about this instead of _calling me at three in the morning on a Tuesday?!_ ”

“Gross. Who let you get all old and cranky? Look, this isn’t something we need to talk about. It just needs to happen, and then everything will be back to normal, I can tell you I told you so, and it’ll be great!”

“Okay. Okay okay okay okay okay. Fine. I’ll help you. But not right now. Not tonight. I have a physics test in the morning and the last time I fell asleep in class May threatened to ground me, so.”

“Right, okay, yeah of course. But you’ll help me right?”

Peter sighed. “Yeah, Sage, I’ll help you. But never call me like this again. It’s too goddamn early. I want to be sleeping and pretending that I’m welcoming the sweet caress of death, not having you scream in my ear.”

“Yeah, that’s… that’s fair. Thanks, Peter! Goodnight! Sorry I woke you up.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He hung up and tossed his phone across the room, burying his face back into his pillow.

\---

“So she called me at _three in the morning_ , and -”

“Oh yeah, she’s definitely Tony Stark’s kid.”

“I mean, she’s not biologically- what is that supposed to mean?”

“Staying up late, manic bursts of creativity and inspiration, too smart for your own good… it’s a common trait of being a Stark or Stark adjacent.”

Peter groaned and looked at his friend with wide eyes. “Please tell me you’re not talking about-”

 _”Yes,_ I’m talking about you, dude! The two of you could be actual siblings! Are you telling me that you don’t see it?”

“Okay, first of all there is no resemblance between the two of us at all, and secondly-”

Ned rolled his eyes and shoved Peter. 

_”Secondly_ , am I the Stark adjacent?”

“Duh.”

“Duh.” Peter muttered under his breath, shaking his head and looking upward. “The entire world is falling apart around me. I’m going insane. I must be going insane.”

“What’s so bad about this phone call anyway?”

Peter groaned and practically slammed his head against his locker. “She wants to throw a party because she’s going stir crazy! God forbid anyone in that tower think that maybe, just maybe getting kidnapped would create some mental and emotional trauma for her!”

“Who are we talking about?”

Peter jumped about a foot in the air and couldn’t contain a high pitched shriek as MJ materialized behind them. “Dude!”

“Duuude!” Ned laughed and gave the girl a high-five. “What?” He asked, in response to Peter’s offended look. “It was funny!”

“I’m going to kill myself. I’m going to kill Sage and then myself before Tony can kill me first, and then-”

“Who the hell is Sage?” MJ looked back and forth between Ned and Peter suspiciously. “Did Parker finally get a girlfriend? I thought you two were dating.”

“What?!” The two cried almost in unison.

“No way, I am _not_ dating Ned. Definitely not-”

“No, we are wayyy straight for each other no homo here, no siree-”

“And even if I _was_ dating Ned, don’t you think that we would maybe-”

“I mean, we haven’t kissed in like a year, and that time was on a dare, so-”

 

“Wait, what- dude!”

“What?!” Ned looked at him with wide eyes. “Was it something I said?”

MJ dragged a hand down her face and let out a long-suffering sigh. “Forget I asked. You two have your gay panic somewhere else. I can’t handle the amount of panicked boy vibes in this…. Particular area.”

“Panicked, bo- We do not have panicked boy vibes! Just, as an aside!” Peter called after her in a desperate attempt to save face.

“Yes you do!”

“N- no! No we- dude!!”

“What?! What is it? What did I say? I wasn’t even paying attention to the words that were coming out of my mouth, was it something bad?” Ned’s eyes were wide and panicked and, okay, yeah, maybe they did kind of have panicked boy vibes.

“Ned. Oh my god.”

_”What?!”_

“You told her about the time that we-”

“Oh, you mean the time that we- Oh… Oh shit, Peter, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know man. It was an accident. Just… Oh my god.”

“D- do you think… Do you think _she_ thinks-”

“Probably.”

“Shit, dude.”

“Yeah.” Peter groaned. “Tuesday, man.”

Ned nodded morosely. “Tuesdays are the worst.”

“Like worse than Mondays.”

“Definitely worse than Wednesdays.”

“Maybe even worse than…” They both exchanged and glance and said together, “Nah.”

‘You know, man, you wouldn’t be the worst person to date. Too bad you’re straight though.”

“Wait, you think I’m-”

“You mean you’re not-”

“No, dude I thought _you_ were-”

“Huh.” Peter gave Ned a considering once-over. “Wait, dude. You thought _I_ was straight? I’m Spider-Man! I’m a bi icon! I swing both ways!”

That got an entire snort-giggle out of Ned. “Oh my god! You’re so right! I can’t believe I didn’t realise that before! Dude!”

Peter grinned. “Man, we need to get to class.”

\---

“Peter, if this is revenge for calling you at three am, I’m sorry, but _please_ -”

“No wait, mine’s actually important.”

Sage glared at him for that, but opened the window wide enough for him to crawl through anyway. “What’s up? Is this a just me situation, or is it a whole girl’s night situation? Can I call Addy?”

“No, I just- it’s not- why would you call your girlfriend? I met her _once_ when you were _kidnapped_.”

“Yeah, she told me about that. Smooth.”

“Shut up.” He shoved her shoulder and smiled softly when she laughed. “I dunno, I just… I found something out today and I wasn’t quite sure how to process it.”

Sage pulled a pillow into her lap. “I’m listening.”

Peter explained the events of the whole day, getting side tracked a couple times here and there, but eventually he got to that afternoon. “And then she said ‘I thought you two were already-’”

“Spider Parker!” Tony’s voice boomed over JARVIS’s speakers and both kids jumped. “What exactly are you doing in my daughter’s bedroom at eleven o’clock on a school night?”

Sage rolled her eyes. “Dad, leave us alone, we’re having a moment.”

“Sage, you already have a girlfriend.”

“No! Peter’s having a gay panic!”

“I am not!”

“... What flavour of ice cream should I bring?”

“Anthony, no, you need to-” Loki’s voice was cut off and it sounded like Tony was covering some microphone.

The teens exchanged exasperated glances and waited for Tony to speak again.

“Sorry.”

“No, this is good for him. He’s been weird and distant lately. Honestly, this is a relief. Sorry I tattled on you.”

“He would have found out eventually anyway. I just don’t know if I should try to date Ned or not, you know? He’s my best friend in the world, and we’re both some flavour of not straight, so maybe? Is it worth the risk?”  
“Did you tell him the bicon Spider-Man joke? About how you swing both ways?”

Peter grinned. “Yeah, I did. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“You’re so welcome. What did he say?”

“He thought it was funny and clever. I dunno.”

“Might as well go for it, ya know? If it doesn’t work between you, then you’re still best friends. If it does work, congrats you’ve got a boyfriend!”

“I feel like I’ve kind of always had a preference for girls though.”

“So? I have a preference for idiots who will probably rip my heart out, but I’m still with Adeline. Preference doesn’t restrict you. It just… gives you a guideline.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

The door burst open and Tony walked in with two pints of ice cream and three spoons. “So what was this about Peter having a gay crisis?”

The two exchanged and look and started cackling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	73. Setting It Up

“A movie night?” Adeline bit her lip and looked toward her dad’s study. “I dunno, Sage. It’s dad’s weekend and we were going to take Eddie to the zoo.”

“What about afterward? Peter wanted to make up for the way you guys met.”

She laughed softly. “Is that-”

“Spider-Man. He might have a boyfriend by then too, we’re working on that bit.”

“He what? Spi-” Addy cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “Spider-Man’s gay?”

“Are you kidding? He wears glorified spandex and swings around the city. He literally _swings both ways_. Did you think he was straight?”

She laughed again. “Alright, that’s fair. So a boyfriend huh?”

“Yeah. Well… maybe. They’re really good friends that _just_ found out the other one wasn’t straight. You know how it is.”

“Gotcha. Well, tell… Peter? That I support all of his gay endeavours. I’ll see what I can do about movie night, okay/”

“Okay, that’s fine. I just wanted to make sure that you got invited. It’s the first one we’ve done since… ya know? I just wanna sort of boost morale.”

“That makes sense. Thank you for thinking of me, babe.”

“You’re welcome. Hey. I love you.”

Addy grinned. “I love you too.”

\---

Sage has created a groupchat!  
Sage named the groupchat Avengers Assemble!  
From Sage: We’re having a movie night on Friday, and I expect everyone and their significant others to be there.

From Steve: Care to explain that caveat?

From Tony: That’s not for you spangles. Tall Dark and Brooding is already in the chat.

From Pietro: It’s for Wanda!

From Sage: And Peter!!!!!

From Wanda: excuse me?!?!?!?!

From Peter: rude!!!! We haven’t talked about it yet!!!!

From Bruce: Wait who is Peter dating?

From Peter: NO ONE

From Sage: He’s dating Ned.

From Pepper: Why am I in this groupchat?

From Sage: Because I want you to come!

From Pepper: I'll see what I can do

From Wanda: sorry to disappoint ,,,,, everyone apparently but there aren’t any SOs over here babes

From Pietro: ther could be

From Wanda: I’ll murder you.

From Peter: wait hi hello i got distracted @doctor banner i am Not dating ned

From Tony: Yet

From Peter: mr stark!!!!! Asldkjfsldk

From Loki: Anthony

From Tony: What

From Loki: Leave the children be

From Tony: But!

 

From Thor: I will be delighted to join, Sage!!

From Sage: Great! Lmao

From Clint: Wanda, I think we need to have the talk

From Wanda: barton I will castrate you while you sleep I swear to god

From Natasha: hey now no need to take drastic measures

From Peter: i’m going to cry pls stop

From Sage: If I add Ned to the gc will you feel better

From Peter: NO  
From Peter: how do you have his number??

From Tony: Is that really an honest question?

From Peter: i’m quitting the avengers goodbye i won’t miss any of you

From Phil: Peter come back we’re sorry

From Sage: that’s the fakest thing I’ve heard all day Peter stop being a dramatic bitch

From Natasha: Phil why are you apologising stop that  
From Natasha: Peter if you quit the team I’ll track you down and abduct you until you agree to rejoin

From Peter: this is bullying  
From Peter: doctor banner they’re bullying me

From Tony: Hey! As the resident father figure I resent that you’re taking this to Bruce

From Steve: Tony you’re part of the problem

From Bucky: Steve he knows damn well he’s the instigator don’t encourage him

From Steve: I wasn’t!

From Sage: Movie night. Friday. Be there or be square.

From Clint: because you’re not a-round!

From Peter: kill me

\---

“Do you want to meet the Avengers?” Peter braced himself for an outburst.

Ned’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. “The _Avengers_?!” His voice dropped to a stage whisper. “I get to meet _the Avengers_?!”

“Well you already know _one_.” Peter laughed and elbowed him in the side.

Ned shrugged. “Yeah, but I’ve known you forever.”

“Yeah, that’s fair. Well anyway, remember the whole ‘I wanna do a movie night’ at three am thing? It’s happening and Sage… may or may not think that you and I are dating.”

“She- I- you- WHAT?”

“Okay, wait, I’m sorry, let me explain. It’s not a good explanation, but I do have one. Peter held up his hands defensively. “So I’ve told you about Sage. Tony’s kid.”

“Your sister. Right.”

Peter groaned and rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to argue about this with you. Anyway, the point is, I told Sage that you and I came out to each other the other day and she was all like ‘wow oh my god you two should date’ and I was like ‘maybe I guess but I’ve kinda got a preference for girls and Ned probably wouldn’t date me anyway’ and then she asked if I’d told you the swing both ways pun and I said I had and-”

“Wait, you don’t think I would date you?”

Peter’s eyes went wide and he stopped walking. ‘I- um. You- well… I-”

“ _Dude_ , I would date you in a heartbeat!”

“You would?”

“Bro! Absolutely! Twelve out of ten definitely would date.”

“Oh.” A silly little smile started spreading across his face. “Well anyway, Sage made a groupchat to announce the movie night and now the whole team thinks we’re dating. So. You’re invited if you wanna come and meet the team or whatever. You totally don’t have to and you can tell them that we aren’t dating, that’s chill and cool, I just figured you might want to meet them and Sage wants you to come.”

“Cool. Cool cool cool cool cool. So they all think we’re dating?”

“Well I mean, they just- yeah. Yeah, all of them. Blame Sage. We can tell them that we’re not though, it’s fine.”

“Okay, sure. Great. Awesome. What if we don’t though?”

“Come again?”

“What if we didn’t tell them that we’re not dating?”

“But… we’re not. Are we? Oh my god. Are we dating and I didn’t realise it?! How long have we been dating?!”

“No! Nonoononononono, Peter! I was- damn it. I was trying to ask you out.”

“Oh. OH! Oh my god. I’m-”

Ned laughed. “Go to class. I’ll catch up with you later.”

\---

From Peter: for the record i’m not opposed to the idea  
From Peter: the dating thing i mean  
From Peter: if you were being serious

Ned rolled his eyes. 

To Peter: Aren’t you in precalc right now?

From Peter: well yeah but we’re just going over complex zeroes of a polynomial function. Nothing serious.

To Peter: pay attention in class nerd  
To Peter: I”ll talk to you after class

\---

Sage’s phone was ringing. No one ever called her. “Hello?”

“Hey, Sage.”

“Peter?” He sounded breathless. “Are you calling me while you’re on patrol?”

“No. Well yeah, kinda. I’m not _actually_ patrolling. I’m just-”

“Swinging around the city?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, I was thinking of a theme song for you the other day. It’s got puns in it.”

“Really?! No, wait, that’s not what I’m calling about”

“No, yeah, right. What’s up?”

“Sooooo a kind of big thing happened today.” 

“Oh yeah?” What happened, did you tell your history teacher you have a crush on him?”

“No, I- how did you know about that?!”

“I didn’t. Thanks for the blackmail.”

“Goddammit.”

She laughed. “What's up?”

“I don't’ know if I want to tell you any more.”

“Oh, come on. Please?”

Peter sighed dramatically. “Okay, so Ned and I were talking today-”

“Whoa, shocker.”

“Shut up. Anyway I invited him to the movie night, and I told him that the whole team thinks that he and I are dating thanks to you which led to a whole conversation about whether we were dating or not and the point is-”

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“Did he ask you out?”

“... Yeah.”

Sage could hear the smile in his voice and broke into a grin. “Congrats!”

“Thanks. Anyway, he’s coming to the movie night as per _your_ request, so you have to get everyone to be nice to him.”

“No promises there. Are you excited? Does May know? Can I tell Tony? Where are you guys going on y- oh _no_.”

“What?”

“Peter. My darling. My love. Dearest brother of mine. Your first date with your best friend can _not_ be to an Avengers movie night.”

“Why not?”

“ _Why not_?! Are you _kidding_ me right now?!”

“N- no… What’s the big deal?”

“Peter. The _big deal_ is that this is going to be the first time that Ned has ever met any of the Avengers. Ever. You know how the team is. It’s going to be nonstop teasing and questions for you two all night on top of a movie. Is that really what you want your first date to be like?”

“Dammit.” Peter sighed. “You’re right. Well, what am I going to do?! The movie night’s Friday and today’s Wednesday. Should I just take him out tomorrow?”

“I dunno. Probably. Just take him for food or something after school. It doesn’t have to be huge. I mean, for Chrissake you two have been best friends for years! Listen, I know I was kind of being frantic earlier, but honestly? You two are _best friends_. You’ll either be fine and you’ll work and you’ll be in love forever or it won’t work and you’ll go back to being best friends, no harm no foul.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Take him somewhere a little nicer, but not so nice that he’s uncomfortable. Make stupid inside jokes with each other. Have fun with it. Just make sure to warn him about what’s in store for Friday, okay?”

“Got it.”

“Listen, Peter, I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you Friday, okay? Love ya tons!”

“Yeah, see ya.”

Peter hung up and swung to sit on the roof of a nearby building. He looked over the city, his legs swinging and an all too familiar feeling starting to burrow into his chest. He shouldn’t be nervous about this. Should he? Was this a mistake? God, he wished he could talk to Ned about this. Wait. He could! Or… no. Was that too awkward? How would this whole thing affect their relationship? Like, obviously they would be dating now probably which was great, but could he still talk to Ned about being nervous for dates and stuff? Was there some sort of protocol for this? How should this work?!

“Peter, an incoming call from Ned.”

 _Oh, thank god._ “Yeah, go ahead and pick up, Karen.”

“Hey, bro.”

“Hey, dude. What’s up?”

“I mean, not much, just some dumb stuff. I just wanted to call you.”

“Oh, okay. Cool. Cool cool cool. Hey, uh… Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Weren’t you… already doing that?”

Peter let out a breathy laugh and rolled his eyes. “Okay, asshole. You’re so rude to me, goddamn.”

“Oh, _I’m_ the rude one?! Really? You’re really gonna go there?”

This got a full laugh out of Peter. This was good. They were fine. They could do this.

“Anyway, what were you gonna say?”

“I mean, it’s stupid.”

“No, man, come on. What is it?”

“Okay, no judgement.”

“None whatsoever. I’m a Planet Fitness up in this bitch.”

Peter grinned. “Okay. Okay okay. So, uh, it’s just… I’m kinda… wigging out about the whole dating thing. Not that I don’t want to! I do! I was just like freaking out because, hey, what if this changes things between us, and what if our first date is kind of awkward because we’re trying to like do things differently or whatever, and what if things are just weird between us, and like that probably won’t happen? But I was just…”

“Overusing your huge ass brain.”

“Yeah, that.” Peter grinned. Everything else aside, this was still Ned. This was still his best friend. They had nothing to worry about. “I told you it was dumb.”

“It’s not… Dumb, Peter. It’s reasonable. I get it. It’s scary. I just… I trust us, ya know?”

“Yeah. Sorry, I just started worrying about it and I couldn’t stop, but then you called and now I’m fine!”

Ned laughed. “You’re such a weirdo.”

“Thank you. Anyway, how do you feel about going out after school tomorrow for food? I figured our first date could be Friday, but then Sage reminded me that the team is crazy so I thought maybe we should do one before that.”

‘I’m free as far as I know. I’ll have to ask my mom though.”

Peter snorted. “Yeah, that’s fine. Actually, I still haven’t said anything to May about any of this, so… I need to do that.”

“Okay, so… You talk to Aunt May, I’ll talk to my mom, and we’re planning on going out after school?”

“Sounds about right.”

“Great! See you tomorrow!”

“Yeah, I’ll see ya. Bye, Ned.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	74. Sorting Through Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are addressed and we still haven't had the movie night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um... Sorry not sorry we haven't gotten to movie night yet? It's coming next chapter, I promise!!

“So how’s Peter holding up? Any news on the boyfriend situation?”

Sage laughed. “I think he’s doing pretty well. They’re going on their first date today, so we’ll see how he’s doing after the fact. Sometimes friend dating can be weird at first.”

“That’s fair. I talked to my dad, by the way. He said it’ll be fine for me to come over, and I can even spend the night! We’ll just take Eddie to the zoo on Saturday.”

“Awesome! You’re in charge of helping me plan things, then. I don’t know what we should watch or what we should do for food. I was thinking maybe Chinese?”

Addy shook her head. “Thai. It’s less common. I feel like we should do a musical night.”

“Ooooh. I like the way you think. Which ones? The Mamma Mias? Some Disney mvoies? Les Mis?”

“Definitely _not_ Les Mis. That movie takes a million years to watch and twenty years off my lifespan.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

“Definitely Mamma Mias though. I’m _ultra_ gay for Lily James.”

“Oh, same. Okay, good. Disney?”

“Yeah, maybe. Like, Princess and the Frog and Pocahontas?”

“Yes, perfect. Princess and the Frog is Clint’s favourite.”

“Because of the-”

“Yeah, the firefly guy.” Sage grinned. “He may be a dork and a weirdo, and he may be a man of simple tastes, but at least he’s predictable and funny.”

Addy laughed. ”Sure. Did you do the Spanish?”

“No. I mean, honestly, what’s the point of doing the homework if it isn’t going to be graded?”

“Okay... did you at least do the math homework though?”

Sage shrugged. “Ehhhh. I’ll do it in class.”

Addy rolled her eyes. “Sage, you _have_ to do your homework!”

She waved her off. “I’m dealing with emotional trauma, leave me alone.”

“Okay, while that is valid and probably true? That’s not something your teachers are gonna acccept.” She noticed Sage avoiding eye contact and put a hand on her arm, stopping them both. “Hey. Is there something else going on? What’s wrong?”

Sage shook her head. “I just went to bed late last night. It’s not a big deal. Just tired.”

“Have you been sleeping okay?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, it’s fine. Just not sleeping a lot. It’s fine.”

“So if you aren’t sleeping, and you’re not doing your homewokr, what exactly _are_ you doing during the nights?”

“Sleeping around.” Sage smirked at her.

“That’s not funny, and you know it.” Addy gave her an unimpressed look and bit her lip. “Is this something we need to talk about?”

Sage’s face fell and she sighed, rubbing a hand down her face. “Listen, I love you. I just can’t do this right now. I need to have enough energy to deal with math class. Can we just… have this discussion another time, please?”

Addy gave her a careful once-over. “Okay. You _will_ talk to me about it though, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I will. Just… Not right now.”

“Okay, that’s fine. I love you.”

Sage smiled tiredly. “I love you too.”

\---

“You’d best be calling me to tell me that your date went well.”

Peter laughed over the line. “Wow, okay, I love you too.”

“I just want to know if your boyfriend is coming to my patty. I _know_ that you’re coming, so that’s way less important.”

 

“Wow, I feel so appreciated. Just for that I’m not coming.”

“Yeah, okay.” Sage rolled her eyes.”Now tell me about your date. I need the details.”

“I mean… It was a date. There isn’t much to tell. We’re boyfriends as far as anyone else is concerned, so. That’s pretty neat.”

‘Peter… Don’t make neature walk references. Please, for my sake.”

“Yeah, okay. How are you and Addy doing? It can’t be easy, after everything that happened.”

“I mean… We’re doing. She wants to help me work thorugh my trauma and shit and I want to ignore it, so.”

“Well that’s… healthy.”

Sage rolled her eys at the note of sarcasm in his voice. “I know, I know, I know. It’s just… She doesn’t need that, you know? And I’m not trying to pull that ‘Oh, it’s my shit, I need to deal with it’ or ‘I don’t want to be a burden’ or whatever else. I know that she genuinely wants to help. I’m just saying that I did go through actual legitimate trauma and I don’t want to just dump that on her with no thought given to the repurcussions. I don’t want to give my girlfriend… second-hand PTSD.”

“Trauma by assocation.”

“Oooh. I like yours better. Let’s go with that. And anyway, you want to know a secret?”

“Sure.”

“I don’t… actually remember anything.”

“Really?”

“Dead serious. According to Papa I was knocked out the whole time. I remember getting snatched from the street, I remember waking up blindfolded and then getting knocked out, and I remember waking up just before we were rescued. That’s it. Yeah, still traumatic, but like… I don’t remember the worst of it, so I’m… not fine, but like… okay.”

“Are you having nightmares?”

“...Yeah. How’d you guess?”

“Are you kidding. I was… kind of directly related to the reason my Uncle Ben died. I literally watched him get shot and held him in as he bled out. I had nightmares for _months_.”

“Holy shit.”

“But I went to therapy, and now I… I’ve moved on. No more nightmares. Well. Way less frequent nightmares.”

“So what you’re telling me is that I should go to therapy.”

“Sage, I think every single person who has ever lived in New York City should go to therapy. It’s a traumatic place to live.”

She laughed.

“I’m not saying ‘no you have to go right now immediately or else.’ I’m saying I think it would be helpful and I know for a fact that there is an entire floor in the tower full of therapists that I’m pretty sure everyone on the team utilizes.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. I can take you and we can go visit together sometime if you want.”

“I might have to take you up on that, Parker.”

“I hope you do, Ahlers. Hey, also? Maybe you should actually talk to your girlfriend.”

“Rude. I talk to her.”

“Yeah, sure. Takk to her about this, though.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I hear ya.”

\---

“So.”

Sage looked up from her book and arched an eyebrow at Tony. “So?”

“What’s up with movie night?”

“What do you mean ’what’s up with movie night?’ We do movie nights all the time.”

“What’s the plan? What’s the reason behind it? What’s shakin’?”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “It’s really not a huge deal. I just… we haven’t really done much as a team recently. I wanted to… do something. I wanted us to all spend time together again.”

His face softened. “Sage… It’s only been a week since you got back. Less than a week, actually. We just… all need some time. The effects of trauma don’t just disappear overnight.”

She scowled. “I know. I know. I just… i wanna fix things as much as possible. It almost feel slike things are broken now, and it’s my fault. And I _know_ it’s not my fault. I get that. It’s just… hard right now.”

Tony sighed. “C’mere.” He held out his arms and grabbed her in a tight hug when she rushed over. “How can I help?”

Sage leaned her head against his shoulder and let her eyes fall shut. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. I just wanna help, and I wanna stop having nightmares about getting kidnapped, and I wanna be able to talk to Addy about this without being afraid that I’m gonna scar her for life, and-”

“Shhh, sweetheart. Shhh.”

Sage took a deep, shaky breath, suddenly realising she was crying. “God. Sorry.”

“No. Nonono, it’s _okay_. I- you may not have been processing this quite… as well as you could have been. Don’t take this the wrong way, okay?”

She sniffled and looked up at him, swiping at her eyes. “What?”

“The stuff the team does, we all come with… baggage, and some of the stuff we see or encounter in the field… a lot of it isn’t great, you know? Some of us have healthier coping mechanisms than others, but no matter what there’s always an entire floor of trained counselors and therapists on standby for anything. If… if that’s something you’d be open to, something you’d want to take advantage of, you can ask anyone and we’d definitely be willing to go with you for the first few times if you wanted, or to just walk down with you or whatever you needed.”

Sage started nodding slowly. ‘Y-yeah, Peter metioned something about that. I- um. It… I think it would be… a good idea. I just… I’m terrified of doing it by myself.”

“I get that. And that’s okay. I promise just about everyone would be willing to take you and even just wait outside if it would make you feel better.. It’s up to you. I won’t pressure you into anything, but I’m glad you’re considering it.”

Sage pulled him into another tight hug. “Thank you,” she mumbled into his shirt. “I feel like this whole thing affected everyone else more than it affected me. Especially you.”

“Maybe. But what you’re going through is still important. Even if it was worse for other people, it cerainly wasn’t a walk inthe park for you. I mean _I_ definitely would have been traumatized by what you went through.”

She pulled away slightly and laughed wetly, sniffling. “Yeah, that’s fair. I… Thank you for this.”

He smiled. “Anytime.”

\---

As they climbed into bed that night, Loki noticed that Tony had a pensive look on his face. “Something the matter, my love?”

“Hmm?” Tony shook out of it and made eye contact with Loki, realising he’d been lost in thought. “Sorry, what?”

“It seems as though there is something on your mind. Something you’d like to… share with the class?”

The corner of Tony’s mouth quirked up at the phrase that usually came from him. “It’s nothing. Just… I was talking to Sage today, and I think she’s been having a harder time than she’s letting on. She mentioned something about having nightmares and how she feels partly to blame because we haven’t been spending a whole lot of time together as a team lately. Which, part of that is because we’ve all simply been… busy, but she’s got a point. I didn’t really notice until now that we all retreat after particularly hard missions or whatever. We draw into ourselves, we cling to our significant others, we mend ourselves inside our little bubbles, and we don’t venture out until then. This has been the worst thing to happen for a while, and we were unprepared for it. Everyone’s still healing, but we’re not healing together. We all fix things separately and then come together and complete the circuit. It’s what we’ve done since the beginning and we’re all used to it, but Sage isn’t. She hasn’t dealt with something this huge with the team before, and so from her point of view we’re all hurting apart from one another, and she’s to blame.”

Loki was silent for a moment as he processed what Tony had said. “Does she know that she isn’t? That this all was in no way her fault?”

“Oh, yeah. But I think she’s hurting and she’s trying her best to fix things without telling people what she’s doing or what’s going on with her. I mentioned therapy today, and it seemed like something she was really considering. She said that she wanted to talk about everything with Adeline without accidentally causing the poor girl more damage than she already went through. She’s doing her best to be _so strong_ , babe. I want to help her, but I don’t know how.”

“The movie night will be a start. Perhaps we call a team meeting and try to explain the pattern to the others, discover their views on the matter. We should certainly have a discussion with Sage. She needs to know that this is simply how we’ve dealt with things in the past, and that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to fix things, but we do need to encourage her to properly confront what happened and to process it accordingly.”

Tony hummed and cuddled closer to the god. “Speaking of processing things, how have you been doing?”

Loki shrugged and wrapped an arm around the smaller man’s shoulders. “I am… Alright. I’ve been meditating more often. I paid Jeanette a visit the other day.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mmm. She sends her regards.”

“Did she dye her hair again?”

“Indeed. It’s a navy colour this time, and I must say, I approve.”

“Ooh, sounds cool. I’ll have to go see her.”

“Sage hasn’t spent an afternoon with me since we’ve returned.”

Tony bit his lip. “Yeah. She’s been in the lab every day. I didn’t want to mention it. I don’t think she’s avoiding you on purpose, I think she’s just trying to give you space. She said something today about how she feels like she was the person least affected by the whole thing… I almost wonder if she’s been trying to give you space because she thinks you were the one who got most fucked up.”

Loki scoffed. “That’s preposterous.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Is it? Really? Lokes, you were bleeding in my bathtub. I watched you scrub your skin until it would have _gone_ if you were human. I think it’s safe to say that you weren’t exactly fine after that.”

He was quiet for a minute. “Perhaps not. But she shouldn’t be afraid to come see me. She is my daughter. The sight of her will not… send me into an episode. She has as much right to be affected by what happened as I.”

“She doesn’t feel like she does, though.” Tony laid a gentle hand on Loki’s chest. “She’s been having nightmares about getting kidnapped, but something tells me her most vivid memory of the whole thing is you two getting rescued. You were a _mess_. Hell, I was a mess too, but she knows what happened, Lokes. Even if she won’t let on that she does. She knows what happened while she was unconscious, even if she doesn’t know the specifics. If anything, I think she’s scared that you blame her too.”

Anger creased Loki’s face and his voice raised as he said, “I would _never-_ ”

“I know. I know, I know, I know. Shhh.” Tony swung a leg over Loki’s lap, pulling the god’s face into his hands and resting their foreheads together. He sighed. “I know, babe. And so does she, I promise. But, she’s just- _Loki_. She’s only fifteen. She’s a scared little kid who got kidnapped and who _knows_ that her father was tortured because of her. She looks up to you _so much_. I think she’s terrified.” He stroked his thumbs gently over Loki’s cheekbones and felt the god’s hands come up to clutch at his hips.

He took a few deep, steadying breaths, willing himself to calm the fury coursing through his veins. He wasn’t angry at Sage. He was just engraged at the idea that _anyone_ would think that he could _ever_ blame his daughter for such a thing. It was a ludicrous idea. Ridiculous. And it made him feel as though perhaps he was more like Odin than he thought. “I... I need to talk to her.” He squeezed his hands over Tony’s hipbones and looked into the other’s deep brown eyes. “Anthony, I-”

“I know.” Tony carded one hand carefully through Loki’s hair. “I know. But not tonight, okay? Tomorrow. After she comes home from school. Before the movie night. But don’t… Just be gentle with her. She’s going through things too.”

“Of course. Of course, I wouldn’t-”

“Shhh. I know.” He kissed him gently and lingered there for a moment, both of them simply allowing themselves to _exist_. To hear each other’s breath and to feel the soft beats of their hearts, and to remind each other that they were there. They were safe. Nothing could hurt them here. “We need to get to bed. It’s a big day tomorrow.”

Loki chuckled softly and looked up, making eye contact again. “I suppose we do.”

“I love you.” Tony’s hand came to rest on Loki’s collar bone, thumbing along it absentmindedly. “I love you more than anything I could create.”

“More than I have the words to describe.”

“More than there are stars in the sky.”

 

“More than anything.”

“ _Anything_.” Tony looked into those poison green eyes for a moment more before sliding off his lap, curling into the other’s side. “Goodnight, Wesley. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”

Loki laughed softly, wrapping himself around the smaller man. “I think you should make a wonderful Buttercup.”

“... Shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


	75. Frantic Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so..... It's still not quite movie night time....... sorry not sorry ahahahahaha

“Hey!”

Ned looked up from his locker and spotted Peter sprinting toward him, which made him grin. “Hey!” He held out his arms and helped the other boy stop rather abruptly, sneakily pulling him into a hug. “What’s up?”

“So, um. First of all. I don’t know if I, like, mentioned it? But. Uh. I really really liked our date yesterday, and I can’t wait to go on another one sometime soon and also I’m super glad we’re boyfriends now, and that’s just- really great and awesome, and-”

Ned’s goofy grin slowly spread across his face as Peter babbled until he had to hold up a hand and say, “Peter.”

“Hmm?” The smaller boy looked up, eyes slightly wide and shoulders tense, but all the stress melted out of his body at the sight of Ned’s smile and he gave him a small smile of his own.

“Was there something else you wanted to tell me?”

Peter’s brows furrowed as he thought back over everything he’d said.

“The term ‘first of all’ usually implies a second point, Peter.”

“Oh!” His eyes lit up and he smiled as Ned laughed. “Right. Sage wanted me to warn you that the team is, like, a bit much sometimes. And by a bit I mean a ton. Mister Stark is like very protective and sometimes Clint and Natasha can be kind of intimidating. More Natasha than Clint, he’s pretty chill most of the time, but he can be kind of really terrifying, though. Also! If you’re talking to Clint, try and angle toward him so he can read your lips because he’s kind of deaf. Um. Oh! Bucky is really scary at first, but honestly he’s a huge softy, don’t get intimidated by his metal arm. Mister Stark actually let me look at the schematics for it once! It was _so_ cool, and-”

Ned laughed again. “Got it. Be prepared for the Avengers being A Lot.”

“Exactly.” Peter’s mouth spread in a relieved grin, and then he bit his lip. “Uh, yeah, also. I’m, um. Sorry about Sage. In advance. She’s... “

“A lot?”

“Yeah.” Peter snickered with Ned and waved at MJ as she appeared a ways down the hallway. “I’m going to go say hi to MJ. Catch you in science?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you.”

\---

“Dad, did you get the Thai food ordered?”

“It’s on its way.”

“JARVIS, do we have a queue set up for tonight’s movies?”

“It has been assembled complete with breaks for use of the restroom and snacks, Miss Ahlers.”

“Great. Awesome. Perfect. I feel like I’m missing something. Am I missing something? JARVIS what am I missing?”

“Could it be your wonderful and amazing girlfriend who is giving up an evening with her adorable baby brother and father to spend it with you instead?”

Sage’s face lit up as Adeline exited the elevator, but she pretended to carefully think over the question for a minute. “No, I don’t think that’s it…”

Adeline rolled her eyes and flipped Sage the bird, smiling when the other girl cackled. “What’s shakin’? How can I help?”

Sage made a distressed noise and pulled the other girl into a hug. “Please never say that again.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s fair.”

“Miss Ahlers, everything is set and in place. All that remains is for people to show up.”

“Awesome.” Sage turned to the holoscreen hovering above the kitchen island that displayed Tony where he was tinkering on something in the lab. “Are you gonna come up soon?”

“As soon as I’ve got this finished, sweetheart.” He flashed her a bright smile. “Actually, I’ll probably hop in the shower and _then_ be down, but you know.”

“Okay, great. I’ll see you then. Love you, dad!”

“Yeah, love you too. If you two do anything rated PG up there while you’re by yourselves I’m going to ban Adeline from the tower.”

Sage rolled her eyes. “I’m going to make out with my girlfriend on top of the island and you can’t stop me!”

Tony’s eyes widened. “Okay, wait, I’m sorry. Please for the love of _God_ don’t-”

“JARVIS, hang up please,” Sage asked in her sweetest voice, cackling at the expression on Tony’s face as the holoscreen shut itself down.

“Sage.” Another holoscreen opened and Loki appeared on it, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the library, a book open in front of him. “Why did your father just call me in a panic babbling on about you and Adeline doing inappropriate things on the common floor?”

Adeline coughed to mask a cough as Sage turned bright red. “I- um. I was…?” Loki rose a skeptical eyebrow and all of Sage’s defenses crumbled. “It was a joke!” She whined, crossing her arms in front of her petulantly. “I would never do something inappropriate…. This close to my party.”

Loki smiled softly and let out a quiet laugh. “I believe that after the minor concession. Hello, Adeline, how have you been?”

“Not too bad, sir. Yourself?”

“Ah, you know. We’re all… healing.”

Sage bit her lip at that, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. She could feel them both staring at her, and she hated it. Tonight was _not_ about bringing up her currently unresolved trauma. Tonight was about being a family.

The elevator doors slid open in the nick of time to reveal Peter and an awestruck Ned standing inside.

“Peter!!!” Sage shrieked, rushing over a leaping on him in a hug.

He caught her effortlessly and rolled his eyes, grabbing Ned’s hand and walking out of the elevator with Sage clinging to him like a limpet. “I literally talked to you yesterday.”

“Yeah, but this is my first ever time seeing you when you’re not single!” Sage let go and punched him in the shoulder before turning to Ned fast enough to give Adeline whiplash. “Hi! I’m Sage, Peter’s older sister.”

“Ex _cuse me_?! I’m almost four months older than you!”

“Sure, honey.” Sage patted Peter’s cheek patronizingly and his mouth dropped open in disbelief.

Addy laughed and waved to Ned from where she was standing. “I’m not going to get that close to a sibling rivalry, but hi. I’m Adeline, Sage’s girlfriend. I’m guessing you’re Ned?”

”The one and only.” Ned shot her some finger guns and she laughed again.

“I like your hat.”

“Really? Thanks!”

Peter and Sage stopped bickering for a moment and Peter’s eyes softened. “Sage aren’t you going to introduce me to your girlfriend, or are you going to keep being an ass?”

“What, you think I can’t do both?”

“You little-”

“You’re not that much taller than me!”

“Hi.” Peter put on his best winning smile and pushed Sage out of his way gently. “I’m Peter and I know we’ve already met but I was trying to make a better first impression. Uh. That didn’t work quite like I wanted it too.” He side-eyed Sage who was laying on the ground dramatically. “That wasn’t my fault.”

“Yeah, huh! You pushed me! Papa, Peter pushed me!”

Loki chuckled and raised a hand in greeting when Peter spun to stare at the holoscreen. “Sage, you’re fine, darling. Get up. Ned, was it? Hello. I’m one of Sage’s fathers. Welcome to the tower, I’m sure the rest of the team will be joining you shortly.”

Sage’s eyes widened and she scrambled up at the words. “Wait, does that mean you’re not? You’re coming, aren’t you? Papa, you have to!”

Loki shook his head slightly. “I’ll come down with your father, Sage, don’t worry.”

“Oh.” She shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. I’ll see you soon.”

“See ya!” Sage turned around and grinned as the holoscreen closed out. “Okay, so now that we’re alone.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively,\ and then laughed. “No, that’s awful. I’m sorry. I was kidding. Besides, if I did anything Dad would kill me.”

“And then me.” Peter and Adeline said in unison. They both turned to look at the other in surprise, and Ned laughed.

Sage and Peter’s phones went off at the same time and Sage’s brow furrowed as she dug in her pocket to pull it out.

Peter looked over her shoulder to see a notification from their group chat with Wanda and Pietro.

From Wanda: Sage how serious were you about bringing significant others?

Peter scrambled for his phone and started texting at lightning speed, fingers flying across the keyboard.

From Pietro: WHAT  
From Pietro: WHAT’S GOING ON  
From Pietro: WHY DON’T YOU TELL ME ANYTHIGN ANY MORE

From Peter: I’M FREAKING OUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

From Sage: If that’s an actual thing and you want to do it, please please please do, but I don’t want to pressure you or a new datemate into something you’re not ready for.

Peter’s head snapped up to stare at Sage. “ _How_ are you not freaking out?!”

Sage hushed him and flapped her hand to wave him away. “Shut up.”

From Wanda: Can you meet me on my floor in five minutes?

From Peter: we can make it in three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, please fuel my zombie writer brain with kudos and comments!
> 
> If you wanna talk about fandom things (or anything, really) come give me a nudge on my Tumblr! It's thatwritxrgirl


End file.
